The Trick
by ShipperTrish
Summary: KakaSaku. Kakashi knows that success lies not in strength, but in cunning...The same principle applies with love.
1. The Trick

This story is to fulfill a request made by **Suicidal-Uchiha**.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_ and I am not making any money by writing this.

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**The Trick**

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Kakashi sprinted as fast as he could. Tree branches snagged at his clothes and slashed at his skin, his lungs ached and burned, making it difficult to breathe, and his heart pounded so painfully hard in his chest that it felt like it would explode, but he didn't listen to his body's protest. He just continued to fly through the treetops and kept his eyes focused straight ahead. Only one thing mattered and he didn't have a second to lose.

She was fierce and stronger than all of them put together. She was more than capable of holding her own. She wasn't called a second Tsunade without reason. This was her fight and she'd be damned if she didn't bring a dozen or so enemies down with her before she went down herself.

Seafoam colored eyes that were normally soft and sweet and caring now blazed with so much anger that her piercing glare would've stopped most people in their tracks, made them turn back around, and run the hell away. If looks could kill...

Some of them slowed down, proving that they were having second thoughts about this petite, pink haired young woman. That was something at least, but it wasn't enough. Even as her black gloved fist smashed into a rogue nin's cheekbone and pulverized it into the consistency of a pulpy mush, they still kept coming with jutsus and kunais in hand.

With one last desperate dash, which turned into one impossibly giant leap, Kakashi slammed hard into Sakura, bringing her down to the ground with him. Not a second later, an exploding tag went off and a large, scorched crater stood where Sakura once had, its edges now decorated with the singed and foul smelling corpses of the rogue nins who had tried to _murder_ her.

Denied the convenience of a mask, Sakura's small form shook under Kakashi's larger one as she coughed through the thick, lingering smoke.

Kakashi lifted himself off her, stood up, and reached his gloved hand out to help her get up.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Sakura said, taking his proffered hand then dusting herself off.

"Anytime. I'm just glad that you're okay." Kakashi said with a happy eye crease.

At that moment, Sakura gave him the most curious look, one that was a mixture of surrender and defeat.

Kakashi's one exposed eye widened in surprise.

"Sakura?..." he began.

"We should go. Naruto and the rest of the team are waiting for us." Sakura said quickly, and before Kakashi could ask anything more, she leaped up high into the treetops ahead of him.

Baffled as to what that was about, Kakashi leaped up into the treetops himself to catch up to his former student.

Kakashi was sure of one thing: Sakura was _fast_. She was the Godaime's student, after all, and had to be quick if she was to avoid her mentor's fists and survive the legendary Sannin's relentless training, but still Kakashi was quicker, having been the legendary Yellow Flash's student. As such, Kakashi caught up to Sakura in no time.

"Sakura, are you okay?" he asked gently, not so much as losing a breath as both he and Sakura continued to fly through the treetops.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be? It's not like you had to save me...again." Sakura said bitterly.

Kakashi's eye widened in surprise.

"Is that what's bothering you?"

Sakura said nothing and looked fiercely straight ahead, grinding her teeth and clenching her fists.

"Sakura, stop."

Sakura paid him no attention and continued to fly through the trees.

"That's an order, Sakura. Stop and rest for a minute...please."

Sakura's eyes furrowed angrily, but an order was an order, so dropping down to the first available clearing, Sakura waited for her team captain to drop down next to her, her arms crossed tightly against her chest.

Kakashi eyed Sakura wearily the second he touched down and discretely avoided her angry gaze by rummaging through his backpack instead. Pulling out a canteen of water, he handed it to Sakura who drank its contents eagerly.

It was only after Sakura handed the bottle back to him that Kakashi decided to have his little talk with her. It was a tactical maneuver, really. The water quenched her thirst and cooled her down in more ways than one, and taking the canteen back from her afterwards assured that she wouldn't use it as a projectile against him later. Kakashi had come to know Sakura for 10 years now and in all those years one thing hadn't changed since she was a 12-year old genin: What Sakura was capable of when she was in one of her tempers.

"Sakura," he began in a soft, soothing voice, the way one would talk to a cornered, feral animal that might jump and scratch somebody's face off at any minute. "You need to stop being so hard on yourself. Even before I came, you were already doing a pretty damn good job of holding those guys off. Most people would've been dead by now."

Sakura scoffed.

"Not you. Not Naruto. Not anyone else from the Konoha 12. Just me. For as long as I've know you, you've always had to go out of your way to protect me. Back then I didn't feel too bad about it because I was just a genin, but now there's really no excuse. I'm a chuunin and the Hokage's apprentice on top of that. You shouldn't have to look out for me the way you used to, but the fact that you do...Well, what does that say about me?" she asked frustrated.

"Sakura, you are one of the strongest people that I know, but even the strongest and best ninjas need a little help sometimes. That's why missions are assigned to teams, not individuals, so don't cut yourself short. You've grown a great deal since I first met you and I'm proud to have been your teacher once. I may not say it often enough-"

Sakura shot him a look.

"Alright...at all." Kakashi said, a drop of sweat rolling down his temple. "But even though I may not say it out loud, I _am_ proud of you, more than you'll ever know, and don't ever forget it."

The hard look in Sakura's eyes softened. For as long as she had known Kakashi, he was sparing in his praise as far as she was concerned, but to hear him say something like that now...

"Thanks, Kaka-sensei. That means a lot to me." Sakura said. Then, crossing the invisible barrier that always existed between them for one reason or another, Sakura came up to Kakashi, wrapped her arms around his waist, and hugged him.

Unused to such intimate interaction between them, Kakashi's one exposed eye went wide and he held his hands up, not knowing what to do. Sakura gave no signs of letting him go, however, so Kakashi tentatively wrapped his own arms around her while awkwardly patting her on the back.

They stayed in each other's embrace for a while, Sakura's head happily tucked against Kakashi's jounin vest and Kakashi's chin resting on the crown of her head.

When Sakura finally let him go, it wasn't completely. She pulled away from him just enough to lift her head up and smile at him in gratefulness.

"C'mon," Kakashi said gently. "Let's get going. Naruto and the rest of the team are probably wondering what happened to us and we don't want to give them the wrong idea."

Sakura's cheeks suddenly turned bright red for a reason Kakashi couldn't understand. Then, realizing what he'd just said in combination to their current position, Kakashi also turned bright red just above his maskline and immediately released his arms around Sakura, took a step back, and scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"I mean, I'm sure they would've seen the exploding tag go off and we wouldn't want them to think anything bad has happened to us." Kakashi explained quickly.

"It's okay, Kaka-sensei. I know what you meant." Sakura laughed, but it came out a little forced and nervous as well.

Kakashi cleared his throat.

"So are you good now?" Kakashi asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, I'm good." Sakura reassured him and gave him one last quick smile before turning her back to him and once again leaping up into the treetops ahead of him.

As she leaped further and further away, Kakashi watched her with his head half bowed as he continued to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment.

It had been so much easier when she was younger. It had been so much easier when she was still his student, but now that she wasn't a child anymore and now that they were equals in more ways than one, it was so much easier for things to get...misconstrued.

Kakashi shook the unfamiliar feeling of insecurity off. Hatake Kakashi was never insecure. He was always confident and sure of himself, so why falter now just because of an innocent little hug? It was no big deal and soon they'd both forget about it and return to their respective, safely distant, opposite corners. With that relatively calming thought to reassure him, Kakashi leaped up into the treetops after Sakura to meet up with the rest of their team.

To be continued...


	2. Mystery

**Chapter 2-Mystery**

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Kakashi eyed Sakura from the corner of his eye.

Ever since that little exchange between them out in the middle of the woods, things had been different between them.

As he had predicted, it wasn't long before they had gone back to their separate ways except...something didn't feel right. Whereas before the distance between them was just something that happened naturally, now it somehow felt _un_natural. It felt forced.

She just didn't meet his eye, she avoided it.

If he so much as reached out to her, she'd jump away like he was a leper.

If he tried to speak to her alone, she seemed nervous and eager to get away.

The ironic thing is that he had been afraid of the complete opposite. He had been afraid that Sakura would take the one moment of affection that had occurred between them as an invitation and become uncomfortably close, and yet here he was now, afraid of them growing further apart instead. At this rate he would have preferred if he and Sakura had never had that little talk or shared that hug in the first place.

"Kakashi! Are you listening to me?!" Tsunade shouted angrily, slamming her hand overly hard on her desk for emphasis.

Naruto, Yamato, and Sai all turned their heads to look at Kakashi curiously. Sakura was a bit more hesitant, turning her head only because it would've brought more attention to her if she didn't.

Kakashi really couldn't get what was going on with her! But he had bigger worries at the moment, one in the form of a pigtailed woman glaring kunais at him.

"Yes, of course, Tsunade-sama. I agree. It'll be wiser to infiltrate from the south side and I'll make sure that we all show restraint in capturing our target so that Ibiki can deal with him."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed suspiciously at Kakashi.

He just smiled back at her with an innocent happy eye crease.

She really wanted to knock that smug smile...uh...happy eye crease from his face, she really did, but the brat apparently _had_ been listening, so there was little she could do.

"That's all then! Dismissed!" Tsunade snapped.

And with that, Team Kakashi dispersed and left the room.

Kakashi gave a silent sigh of relief.

There were advantages to being a shinobi elite. Kakashi could let his mind wander and still see and hear every important detail around him. It was the same skill he had used during his first bell test on Team 7. It was what enabled him to read his _Icha, Icha_ book and still fend off each of his genin team's attacks. It's also what had saved him countless of times during missions when a second of letting his guard down would have gotten him and his team killed otherwise, and it's what just saved him now from a very angry, very hot tempered, and _very_ violent Hokage.

Kakashi didn't spend too much time patting himself on the back, however, especially when there were things he had to get to the bottom of.

He had to jog a little to catch up to Sakura who made sure that she was the first one out the door and was now walking at an unnaturally brisk pace, as if trying to gain as much distance between whatever or whoever she was running away from. Kakashi had a sinking feeling in his stomach that it was the latter and that person was _him_.

"Sakura, can I talk to you for a minute?" Kakashi asked when he was nearly caught up to her.

Even with her back turned to him, Kakashi could see her body stiffen, but when she turned around to face him, she smiled her familiar warm smile and brightly asked, "Sure, Kaka-sensei. What did you want to talk to me about?"

Naruto, Yamato, and Sai didn't even give them a second glance as they walked past the two and continued to talk about their new mission.

"Well, maybe I'm wrong, but are you upset with me about something?"

"No, of course not. What made you think that?"

"Well, it just seems like you've been avoiding me lately."

Sakura's cheeks blushed.

"Kaka-sensei, if I was angry at you, you'd know it! I've just been busy, that's all. You know, working both at the hospital and for Shishou and now we have this new mission, too. It's nothing personal against you, really. Anyway, I should really start packing. I'll see you in a bit, okay?" she smiled at him and with that, quickly left.

Kakashi knew just as well as anyone that most ninjas already had a pack set and ready to go considering how many missions they were sent to. It was the more irresponsible shinobis, like Naruto, who constantly had to rush back home to pack because of lack of preparation, but Sakura wasn't that way. Knowing her, Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if she had a couple of backpacks set and ready to go for any upcoming missions. She was just making an excuse to get away from him, but if it wasn't because she was angry at him, then why?

"Kaka-sensei, you okay?" Naruto asked, looking quizzically over his shoulder at him.

It was only then that Kakashi realized that he had been standing stock still in the middle of the Hokage Tower hallway staring at the spot where Sakura had been just a minute ago.

"Ahahaha! I thought I left my _Icha, Icha_ in Tsunade's office, but it was in my back pouch like usual." Kakashi made excuse. He never was very good at making excuses. He'd have to remember to work on that...

"Oh, okay." Naruto said and continued walking with the rest of his teammates. Seeming to forget that his former sensei had extraordinary hearing, Kakashi then heard Naruto murmur to Yamato, "I don't know what's so great about those books anyway. They're so boring!"

Kakashi sighed. What would Jiraiya think of his former pupil, his _godson_ for crying out loud, scoffing at his work?

Kakashi shook his head in dismay. Well, at least _he'd_ always be Jiraiya's number one fan.

In the meantime, Kakashi had to focus his attention back to more pressing matters. Soon they'd be leaving for their next mission and he had to concentrate on that so that they'd all come back home alive, and yet Kakashi couldn't help keep his thoughts from wandering back to Sakura. Well, at least this new mission meant she had nowhere to run and he'd have plenty of time to have her all to himself...to talk!

Kakashi rubbed his hand down his face. Seriously, things were so much easier when Sakura was still a child and his student and the lines were definitive, meaning that they couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't, _didn't_ get crossed, but now...Kakashi let out a defeated sigh. Truthfully, at the moment his own worst enemy was himself and having read waaay too much written porn. Apparently, they rot the brain and in his case, make him think about certain people in ways he really shouldn't!

To be continued...

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**Author's Note:** In order to keep myself from getting stuck with writer's block (like I usually do), I'm basically jumping back and forth between chapters, writing what actually interests me at the moment instead of writing chronologically, so please be patient if I don't update as soon as you'd like. I am working on this story and as it is, already have the ending written out. Now I just need to fill in everything that happens in-between. Besides, if I can work on a single story for a little over 2 years and finish it off at 60 chapters, then I can most likely finish this story, too! Anyway, thank you ahead of time for your patience! =)

~Tricia


	3. Revelation

**Chapter 3-Revelation**

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Kakashi stared at the white circular symbol on the back of Sakura's red tank top. She was so quick to dodge that he was having difficulties as so much as walking with her side by side. So here he was now, left to stare at her back instead. He had always heard the saying "So close and yet so far away" before, but it was only now that he felt the true weight and meaning of those words.

At first he thought she was just trying to cover up what had happened between them out in the middle of the woods the same way he was, but her actions were so much more extreme, making him wonder. It was just a hug, after all. Was it really that big of a deal that it had to be covered up? And if it was, Sakura was definitely doing a bit of overkill. It was the same as before, the same as when they reunited with their team the day that he and Sakura embraced…

Yamato was the first to see them.

"Kakashi-sempai!" he called out, running towards Kakashi and Sakura who stepped out of the woods and into the clearing, both looking disheveled and exhausted.

Naruto and Sai were the next to take notice and they, too, ran towards their previously missing teammates.

"Thank God you're alive!" Naruto said, hugging Sakura and Kakashi each in turn. "We saw that huge explosion and didn't know if you guys made it out in time."

"I didn't doubt them." Sai said impassively.

Everyone turned around to look at him, shocked that he of all people had the most faith in the duo.

"What?" Sai asked, his face still blank. "He's Copy Nin Sharingan Kakashi and she's the Hokage's apprentice. If anyone had a good chance of surviving, it was them."

Sai's cool logic left Naruto and Yamato both a little shamefaced, but Kakashi and Sakura knew that their teammates faltered only because they had thought with their hearts, not with their heads, a costly mistake, seeing how doing so can cloud a person's judgment.

"Well," Sakura said, trying to save her friends' dignity. "I couldn't have done it without Kaka-sensei. He saved me at the last minute."

"Kaka-sensei? On time? That's a first!" Naruto said, shocked.

There were a few snickers at Kakashi's expense, but he simply took it all in stride.

"I'm on time...when it counts." he said with a happy eye crease.

Sakura felt her face heat up and was glad that everyone was looking at Kakashi, not her.

"But you should've seen Sakura." Kakashi continued. "She was amazing. Otherwise, it wouldn't have mattered if I had gotten to her on time or not."

Everyone turned to look at Sakura.

_Well, so much for that_, Sakura thought as she felt her face heat up even more not just because of the unwanted attention, but because she wasn't used to Kakashi openly giving her praise, much less in front of their teammates.

"It's amazing what you can do when the adrenalin kicks in," she said modestly. "Besides, I still needed help in the end."

"Don't worry about it, Sakura-chan." Naruto said understandingly. "We all need a little help sometimes. That's what teammates are for, right Kaka-sensei? To look out for each other?"

"Yes, they are." Kakashi smiled in pride, glad that his lesson, his motto, really, had ingrained itself so deeply into his former student's mind, but when Kakashi looked at Sakura, he could've sworn that he saw for the fleetest moment a sad, wistful look on her face.

Kakashi looked at her in surprise. Maybe he was just misinterpreting things, but to him that face meant that she had not wanted him to save her just because she was his teammate, but because she had wanted him to save her for another reason, one that he couldn't figure out.

The thought to ask barely crossed Kakashi's mind when Sakura cut him off before he could say anything.

"You're right, Naruto. I don't know what I was getting all worked up for. It is our duty to look out for each other, after all." she laughed, but it sounded a little off. "Anyways, thank you for saving me yet again, Kaka-sensei. Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to clean up." she said, forcing a smile, then brushed past her teammates to do just that at a nearby stream.

While the rest of their team asked Kakashi details on how exactly they survived the enemy's attacks and explosion, Kakashi looked over their shoulders to look at Sakura. Even through all the noise he could've sworn he heard, with his super-sensitive hearing, Sakura say angrily to herself "How could I be so stupid?" before pinching her nose and dunking herself down into the ice cold water still fully clothed.

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For the rest of the evening as Team Kakashi continued to make headway through the woods before nightfall caught up with them, Sakura neither looked nor spoke to him.

Kakashi couldn't understand it. One minute Sakura was throwing her arms around him, the next it was like they were complete strangers. It was a complete 360 from how they had been with each other in the woods only a few hours ago. It was true that Kakashi's Sharingan could see an opponent's every move, but at that moment Kakashi wished that it could read a woman's mind. Whatever was going on, Kakashi knew he had to get to the bottom of it and try to fix it because left unhandled, it could lead to mistakes and maybe even the unraveling of the team, neither of which Kakashi could afford, especially in the middle of an important mission.

As they set up camp that evening, Kakashi saw his opportunity. Sakura couldn't run away from him now, but apparently even a caught fish can escape if it wriggles hard enough and Sakura was definitely wriggling, and if she couldn't wriggle out by herself, she enlisted her unknowing teammates to help her escape.

"Sakura," Kakashi began. "Can I talk with you for a-"

At that moment, Sakura grabbed a passing Naruto by the arm, jerking him towards her.

"What the hell, Sakura-chan?!" Naruto asked irately.

"Naruto! Mind helping me gather some firewood?"

"But Yamato-teichou already took care of that using his Mokuton Jutsu."

"Fine. Help me get some fresh water then." Sakura said through gritted teeth, the vein in her temple throbbing.

"But Sai already used his Choujuu Giga Jutsu to-"

Sakura didn't even let him finish and simply squeezed his bicep harder, literally dragging Naruto into the woods with her.

Even when the pair were no longer in sight, Kakashi and the remainder of his team could still hear Naruto's outraged cries through the densely thicketed woods.

"OOOOOW!!! ALL RIGHT, SAKURA-CHAN! JUST LET ME GO, DATTEBAYO!"

And forget about sleeping anywhere near her. That night, Sakura made sure to lay her sleeping bag as far away from Kakahi's as possible, laying it down next to Naruto's instead, which was a surprise in and of itself. Normally, Sakura would do the complete opposite, not really caring whose sleeping bag she laid hers next to as long as it wasn't Naruto's. Anyone within a mile radius of a sleeping Naruto could understand why. Naruto snored…Loud. However loud and obnoxious he was when he was awake, it only seemed to translate to his snoring when he was asleep. How someone so intuitively noisy ever successfully became a ninja was beyond most people, but the Kyubbi container was the Fourth Hokage's son, after all, and whatever his setbacks and downfalls may be, being a ninja was irrefutably one thing that Naruto was destined for.

Kakashi sighed in dismay. How was he ever going to find out what was going on with Sakura if she wouldn't stay around long enough for him to even speak with her? The thing was that Sakura's behavior seemed eerily familiar, but Kakashi couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"Naruto-kun!"

Kakashi snapped out of his reverie, prying his eye away from Sakura's back to look at Hinata instead who had suddenly appeared from around the corner of a nearby building.

"Hinata! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"I j-just wanted to say g-good-bye to you one l-last time," she stuttered nervously, her cheeks flaming bright red.

"You did?" Naruto asked, eyes wide.

Then, before Hinata knew what was happening, Naruto scooped her up into his arms and embraced her in a tight bear hug, causing her to squeak.

Realizing that he was hurting her, Naruto loosened his embrace and gently set Hinata back down on her own two feet.

Cupping her face in his hands, he quietly said, "I love you."

"Love you, too." she answered back, looking shyly up into his eyes.

Then, they embraced one last time, gentler and longer than before before finally, hesitantly, letting each other go.

"I'll be back before you know it, dattebayo!" Naruto promised cheerfully, flashing her a toothy fox grin.

Hinata smiled, blushed again, and timidly waved "goodbye" to him.

Like a lovesick idiot, Naruto continued walking backwards, enthusiastically waving "goodbye" at her until both Hinata and the Great Konoha Gates were no longer visible.

Team Kakashi's reactions were all a little different.

Sai was expressionless as usual, but Kakashi could just imagine the cogs in the former Root member's head spinning, trying to analyze and understand the open display of affection that he had just witnessed.

Yamato just smiled and shook his head at the same time.

Sakura smiled, too, but said in their defense, "Well, I think it's cute."

As for Kakashi, he thought it was both sweet and a little sickening at the same time. Actually, it baffled him how two people with polar opposite personalities could be so head over heels in love with each other, but then again, opposites do attract and like yin and yang, they balanced each other out. In Naruto, Hinata saw attributes that she most likely wish she had in herself: confidence and extroversion. Meanwhile, Hinata's gentle, soft-spoken demeanor mellowed out Naruto's loudness and hyperactiveness.

If there was another thing Kakashi was, it was relieved. He remembered how long it took Naruto to finally realize Hinata's feelings for him. Kakashi found it both curious and amusing that his former sensei's son could be so dense. Anyone could see that Hinata acted the way she did around Naruto because she had a crush on him. Naruto had to have been seriously blind not to see that. In fact, she had to _tell_ him point blank that she loved him, but now that it was all out in the open and the two were finally together, everyone could breathe a little bit easier.

Then, Kakashi's eye widened in realization. How could _he_ be so dense? How could _he_ be so seriously blind? Sakura wasn't acting the way she was because she was angry at him or found him repulsive, she was acting the way she did because she _liked_ him!

He had to be mistaken. She couldn't possibly be interested in him! He used to be her teacher! He was too old for her! He was practically old enough to be her father! Then, Kakashi realized that, no, actually he wasn't. He was fourteen years her senior, to be sure, but then that would make him a really, _really_ young dad.

Either way, he was still much too old for her and there was no way in the world that she could be interested in him in that way in the first place.

No, wait...Even he knew that most people considered him attractive. Ironic, really, since most people had never even seen his face.

Still, if Sakura was interested in him in that way, then it couldn't be more than a silly crush. Young girls were notorious for having crushes, after all, and sometimes even had them for their teacher if they considered him attractive enough. They would sit in class and pay more attention to his face and his clothes and his body than they would to the actual lesson he was trying to teach. Then, once class was over, they would gush with their friends about how cute he was, but more often than not that's as far they would go. Their crushes were harmless and silly and not anything to be taken seriously, so there was nothing to be worried about, Kakashi reassured himself. He had finally paid Sakura a little bit of attention after years of overlooking her and it had gotten to her head, that's all. Given enough time, Sakura would come to realize that he was only being kind then move on to someone closer to her age and all would be right with the world again.

Kakashi purposely overlooked the fact that he was no longer Sakura's teacher, hadn't been in almost a decade, and that Sakura was far from being just a young girl anymore. Those facts aside, the theory that Sakura only had a crush on him still held firm and as long as Kakashi kept believing it, then he'd be able to sleep at night.

Then, Kakashi remembered what Sakura was like when she had a crush on Sasuke. That simple little crush had turned into full blown love.

Needless to say, Kakashi was NOT able to sleep well that night or for many more nights to come. Unlike Naruto, Kakashi wasn't very good at overlooking the obvious and his mind became so preoccupied with Sakura that she seeped into his dreams, dreams that were his most pleasant ones yet, but when he woke up in the morning and he remembered just how much he enjoyed those dreams, his guilty conscious made him go through a living nightmare instead.

To be continued...


	4. Distracted

**Chapter 4-Distracted**

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Kakashi stared at the splay of pale pink hair on the far side of the campsite. Sakura was trying, unsuccessfully, to pretend that she was still asleep.

Everyone has a "tell" when they're pretending to be asleep. Some people's eyes flutter, others exaggerate their breathing and snoring, and some people, like Sakura, do the complete opposite.

A morning chill hung in the air, the type that makes each breath come out as a fog. Sakura, however, seemed to have little to no fog coming out of her. She seemed to be holding her breath out of fear of getting caught or so that she _wouldn't_ get caught or a little bit of both. Either way, it wasn't working.

Also, she was too still, as if any movement would bring unwanted attention to her, yet when a person is sleeping their body is completely relaxed. Sakura, on the other hand, might as well have been made of stone.

Kakashi would have to remember to tell her all these things later on. If she were feigning sleep as a cover on a mission, the enemy would not be fooled, then Sakura really would be stone cold because she'd be dead.

It was a little before sunrise when the sky is still pearly gray. It was also the most difficult watch shift. No one wanted it because they would have to wake up extra early, but Kakashi usually ended up taking it for several reasons:

First, out of consideration for the rest of his team.

Second, because he was team captain.

And third, because he tended to wake up early anyway. In spite of his reputation for always being late, he was an early riser. It gave him time to pay Obito and the rest of his old team respects at the memorial, but sharing current events in his life and reliving old memories and regrets always made time fly, and before Kakashi knew it, he was late for whatever appointment he might have had.

Lately, most news he brought to his old team involved Sakura. The memorial stone became more of a sounding board than something to commemorate the dead. It's not like Kakashi expected the ghosts of his old teammates to answer him back, but saying his concerns out loud often did help him figure things out on his own, but who knows? Maybe his old teammates _did_ help him come up with those answers.

Sakura, whether she knew it or not, had taken over Kakashi's life. She overwhelmed his mind, thinking and worrying about her, especially now that he had the sneaking suspicion that she was avoiding him because she actually liked him. For all he knew he could be wrong, but gut instinct told him that he wasn't and his instincts were usually good. It's one of the reasons why he was so successful, why he was a legend, but of course there was no harm in asking and making sure. The only problem was that the one person who could confirm or deny his suspicion was trying her damnedest to stay the hell away from him.

Kakashi couldn't blame her. It was self-preservation, after all. Not many people look too kindly towards unconventional relationships even if there were other relationships far more unconventional. If a relationship ever were to develop between them, it would be nothing more than one between two grown adults with a big age gap in-between, but some people don't care about that. Some people are so fixated only on what they know and what they're used to that they automatically shoot down anything different.

It's not their fault. It's human nature. It's why children tease other children who stick out like a sore thumb…Because conformity is familiar and comforting and who doesn't want that? Yet if everyone lived their lives exactly the same, then where's the imagination? Where's the uniqueness of each individual that makes them who they are and not cookie cutter cutouts of who they're "supposed to be"? And there would be no great leaps forward in life either because it's the ballsy ones who imagine life outside the box and make life better than what it already is and _they_ are the ones remembered, not the ones who play it safe for the rest of their life.

Ironically, he had been one of those people. After what had happened to his father, he was practically scared into becoming one of those people, but when Obito died, he thought he had changed. Kakashi knows now that he actually hadn't. If he had, then the mere idea of him and Sakura being together wouldn't have shocked and surprised even himself.

In his defense, he never considered her that way before for good reason. For one, she had been his student (even if it had been only for a year, if that), and for another, because of how much older he was than her, but looking at her now, he could definitely see her as a possibility.

She wasn't a 12 year old child anymore, she was a 22 year old woman and a beautiful one at that. She had always been cute as a child, naturally standing out with her uncommon pale pink hair and large seafoam colored eyes, but now she was the type of woman who caught most men's eyes, tall and slender with curves in all the right places and still with her exotic looks. She was the type of woman most men considered out of their league, the type of woman who intimidates most men from even trying to speak to her. It didn't help either that she was monstrously strong or was the Hokage's apprentice. It only made her even more intimidating and unattainable.

But for Kakashi it was different.

When Kakashi looked at Sakura, he not only saw a beautiful woman, but he saw his old teammate, his longtime friend.

It was strange because even though they had been friends and teammates for almost 10 years now, it felt like all the adventures that they had together happened only the year before. Time is funny like that. At first it seems like it takes forever, then you come to realize that five, ten years have already passed, that life truly is short…

That being said, shouldn't he take the chance? For all he knew, he could die today or tomorrow. And what would he have to show for it? He already died once. If he died again, permanently, could he tell his father about improvements in his life since they last reunited or would he have to admit to having stood still, unmoving and unchanging like stagnant water?

If Sakura and he hadn't had their history as student and teacher, if she was just another shinobi, he would pursue her without question. She was an elite like he was. She understood his work and delved into it like he did. She understood him in ways a civilian never could, but the fact that they do have a history together, protected each other's backs countless of times, and been friends for just as long made their bond even stronger than with any fellow shinobi he might decide to date. If anything, this saved him most of the trouble and anguish of dating…He already knew so much about her and in turn, she already knew so much about him. It was transitioning from friends to more than friends that would be the tricky part.

What was he thinking?! Why was he even considering this?! So she _possibly_ had a crush on him. So what? That didn't mean anything. Crush or no, he couldn't pursue her!

Wait…Why couldn't he date her again? Kakashi asked himself, confused. Oh, right, the age thing. And why was that so taboo again? Because of the generation gap? Because of genetics? Because it looked weird?

Strange, but he didn't really notice the generation gap when he was with Sakura. She was sharp minded and had been one of the brightest students in her class, so when he spoke to her, she spoke intelligently and maturely. The only times the generation gap became noticeable was when he talked about trivial things like an actor or a musician she hadn't heard about before and vice versa, but then they were able to teach each other to become more versatile.

If it was genetics and ensuring that their children received only the best genes, then Kakashi was pretty damn sure his genes weren't so old and shriveled as to be a disadvantage to any children he and Sakura might have. As it was, he could think of plenty of women who would want him for their children's father.

As for appearance's sake, Kakashi thanked God everyday for his good genes. He still pretty much looked the same way he did when he was in his 20's even though he was now in his 30's. Most people didn't even give him and Sakura a second glance when they were together and some of them even automatically assumed they were a couple. That being said, the only people who would know about the age thing would be people who already knew them or people they chose to tell.

So, again, why wouldn't they work out?

Because she was 22 and he was 36. He was a quickly aging man and she was just a young woman starting her life, but 30's wasn't old, not really. In fact, 30's and 40's are considered the prime of people's lives when you have life pretty figured out and you're still young enough to enjoy it.

Kakashi had to smile, remembering what Tsunade once told him:

"You're only old when you have more years behind you than ahead of you and you have plenty of more years ahead of you, brat!"

Still, did he really want to go down this risky road? There were plenty of other women his own age that he could pursue…But if any of them meant half of what Sakura did to him, then he would have already pursued them, Kakashi realized. Maybe it was even because of her that he never went after anyone else... Because a part of him always knew that she was the only one for him. He just needed to give her a little more time to come into her own.

Was he out of his mind for even considering it or was he overthinking things since there weren't any more real boundaries between them?

If he could just find out how she felt about him, then maybe he'd know better what to do.

…But she was pretending to be asleep.

How do you even begin to start asking questions when the person you want to ask is so afraid to confront you that she's pretending to be asleep and not doing a very good job of it either?

Kakashi could just call her on it, but he didn't want to embarrass her. Besides, he highly doubted she'd be more willing to talk if he did, so he quietly said, "Breakfast is ready if you're hungry" instead.

Surprisingly, Sakura's body actually relaxed, as if she were relieved to finally let go of the façade. That, or she simply surrendered to being caught.

Sakura slowly opened up her eyes and croaked "Good morning" because even if she had been faking to still be asleep, her vocal cords were most certainly just warming up.

"Good morning." Kakashi answered back, handing her her breakfast as she walked unsteadily towards him.

She accepted the simple fare of hot tea, oatmeal, and an apple and sat directly across from him on the other side of the campfire.

It wasn't until Sakura had taken several bites of food that Kakashi finally tackled the problem that had been bothering him for days on end.

"So you want to tell me what's going on?" he asked easily as he poked at the fire to keep it going.

"What do you mean? Nothing's going on." Sakura replied, stuffing an overflowing spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth, thinking she could keep from answering his questions if her mouth was full.

"Sakura, are you going Hinata Hyuuga on me?"

At that, Sakura started to choke and cough so hard that bits of oatmeal started to spray out of her mouth.

Kakashi quickly got up and started gently patting her on the back.

"Excuse me?" she asked once she got control of herself.

"Well, you said that you weren't angry at me, but you're still avoiding me, so I have this theory that you're doing it because you actually like me."

Sakura's face turned bright red.

"What made you think that? I mean, nothing against you, but I just don't think about you that way!"

Kakashi would've called it quits right then and there, but there was something about Sakura's demeanor that betrayed the words coming out of her mouth, like the way she seemed unable to look him straight in the eye and for the few seconds that she did, her face seemed to get redder with embarrassment. If she had been telling the truth, she'd have simply socked him in the face, called him a perv, and stormed away. She might have even walked all over his prone body and stomped on his balls for good measure, but she hadn't. Instead, she just looked plain guilty.

"Everything all right, Kakashi-sempai?" Yamato asked, the first from the rest of their team to wake up. He now looked in confusion between a pensive looking Kakashi and a clearly flustered Sakura.

"No. Nothing at all. I was just about to leave and wash up." Sakura said, eyeing Kakashi one last time before quickly grabbing a few of her things and speed walking away from the campsite towards a nearby stream.

"What happened? What did you say to her?" Yamato asked accusingly once Sakura was clear from earshot.

"I…" Kakashi began wearily. "I'll be right back." he told Yamato quickly, then like Sakura, speed walked out of the campsite and into the woods.

"Why are you guys making so much noise?!" Naruto asked grumpily, rubbing at his half opened eyes as both he and Sai began to stir awake as well.

"Don't look at me." Yamato said, raising his hands up in innocence. "I'm as confused as you are."

~*~*~*~

After so much psychological agony of whether to pursue Sakura or not, the irony of _literally_ chasing after her was not lost on Kakashi.

"Sakura, wait! Can we just talk for a minute?" he yelled after her.

"There's nothing to talk about, Kaka-sensei, so can you please just leave me alone?"

He ducked, trying not to get whacked in the face by a leafy branch Sakura had just shoved out of her way and that was now rebounding back. He barely dove when he then suddenly had to jump up to keep from tripping on an overgrown root sticking out from the ground…Literal obstacles getting in his way to Sakura weren't lost on him either. What was next? A masked criminal robbing a cradle? Heck, as it was he was already masked.

For what seemed like the millionth time, Kakashi second guessed himself. If he had just been waiting for Sakura to come into her own, well, she most certainly had, and not just physically, but confidence wise. If she wanted something, she went after it. If she wanted _him_, then she would've went after him regardless of what other people thought. That being said, he didn't want to force himself on her either. If only he didn't have the gut feeling that she was lying to him…

And then he noticed that she had stopped answering him altogether.

Did she really think she could lose him that way? He was like Superman…He had super everything!

The sweet, clean smell riding on the breeze told him that she was east of where he was standing.

The slight rustling of leaves and cracking of twigs underfoot told him that he was catching up to her quick.

However, he wished he had enhanced his sight with his Sharingan as well because when he pushed the last tree branch out of the way, he was met by bright green eyes staring back at him wide in fear as a stranger's large hand clamped itself over her mouth while his other hand bound both her arms tightly behind her back.

Years of seeing the man's mug in the bingo books and Tsunade's more recent mission briefing let Kakashi know exactly who this man was. It was their target. The man they were meant to find and bring back home to Konoha for Ibiki to interrogate. The man who, under no circumstance, was to be killed.

To be continued...


	5. Kidnapped

**Chapter 5-****Kidnapped**

* * *

…But just because he couldn't kill Kuro Fukitsu didn't mean Kakashi couldn't _hurt_ him, and Sakura seemed to have the exact same mindset.

The instant she felt Kuro jump a little in surprise at Kakashi's sudden appearance, Sakura bit hard on one of Kuro's fingers until her teeth broke skin and she tasted the metallic flavor of blood on her tongue. Then, she kicked behind her, hitting his shin as hard as she could. Kuro may have bound her arms, but that didn't mean her legs and feet weren't free to do damage themselves.

"Fuck!" her captor shouted in pain as Sakura broke free from him.

Sakura didn't even give the man a second glance as she ran hell-bent towards her team captain instead.

"Kaka-sensei!" she shouted.

"Sakura!" he shouted back, ready to grab her and get the two of them as far away from there as possible.

But Sakura barely ran three feet before Kuro tackled her around the waist, bringing her down with him.

"Let. Me. GOOO!!!" Sakura shouted angrily, struggling beneath him, having more difficulty fighting back. After all, there's a reason why law enforcement officers force criminals to lay down on their stomach. In this case, however, the position of each were unfortunately reversed.

On instinct, Kakashi pulled up his hitai-ate, ready to warp one of Kuro's limbs into some unknown dimension.

"Cover it now! I swear, if you use your Sharingan on me, I will kill her!" Kuro shouted.

Of course Kuro knew who Kakashi was and what his abilities were. The bingo books were a two way street. The good guys had bingo books of the bad guys, and the bad guys had bingo books of the good guys, and Kakashi was undoubtedly one of the top most wanted shinobis in there.

Kakashi regretfully tugged his hitai-ate back down, but his eyes narrowed in resolve. He barely made his mind up about Sakura. He wasn't going to let someone else get in the way so soon.

"I'll do anything you want. Just let the girl go." he said calmly, hoping to calm the rogue nin down as well.

"You think I'm an idiot? Everyone is after me right now and I know you're one of them. I let her go, I have no collateral. No deal!"

"All right then. Me for her. That's all I'm asking." Kakashi said.

Sakura, being a formidable kunoichi and the Hokage's apprentice, was probably pretty high up in the bingo books just like Kakashi, but Kakashi had been around longer and therefore, had a longer standing reputation. If he traded himself in for Sakura, Kuro would have a more valuable hostage in his hands.

Sakura shot Kakashi a look. It was a mixture of surprise, anger, and pleading, but not because she wanted the trade, but because she _didn't_ want Kakashi to sacrifice himself for her.

Kuro caught the exchange of looks between Kakashi and Sakura and his eyes went wide in realization. In reprimand, he tightened his grip on Sakura, making her wince and making Kakashi take an instinctive step forward to protect her.

"That's far enough!" Kuro snapped, making Kakashi freeze on the spot.

"You two sure seem overly protective of each other," Kuro observed. "Especially you of her." he said, jerking his head in Sakura's direction while never breaking eye contact with Kakashi. "It makes me wonder…What does she mean to you, really?" he asked.

For a moment Sakura stopped struggling and looked back at Kakashi as if she wanted to know the answer as well.

Kakashi looked at both of them in bewilderment, but inside he knew exactly what Sakura meant to him.

That first time he saw Sakura bound and silenced by Kuro, the first time he saw that frightened look in Sakura's eyes, Kakashi felt his heart sink and his world cave in on itself. Why? Because all his hopes and plans for the future suddenly lay in the hands of another man, and if this other man won and Kakashi lost Sakura, then whatever future he had left looked bleak and utterly miserable because that's what Sakura meant to him: A future, a bright one, just as long as she was alive and well and right by Kakashi's side.

But presently, Kakashi couldn't say any of this out loud because if he did, then Kuro would know just how valuable Sakura was to Kakashi, and you should never, _ever_ let your opponent know that he has the upper hand because you just might be able to bluff your opponent into thinking that you have the upper hand instead, so Kakashi put on his poker face (which is quite easy when the only part of your face showing is one eye) and put his prattling skills to work, but of course he couldn't tell blatant lies either because Kuro would see right through those as well.

"The truth is, I care about her a great deal. If something happens to her, the Hokage will have my head. Literally. She is the most ill-tempered, violent human being I have ever met in my life and if she ever found out that I let her apprentice be kidnapped on my watch, I might as well kiss my career, no, my _ass_ goodbye, so I'm begging you, please let her go. Besides, you'd be better off taking me as a hostage instead."

"Now I don't know about that. She's a pretty one, ain't she? With her, I can have myself a little fun." Kuro said lasciviously. Then, both to Sakura and Kakashi's disgust, Kuro buried his nose and mouth against the side of Sakura's neck, breathing her in. His arousal was obvious.

Kakashi felt a burning rage deep inside of him. If Sakura wasn't in danger, Kuro's eyes would already be rolled back to the back of his head and flies would be swarming over his filthy, rotting corpse, but in spite of what he was feeling inside, Kakashi forced himself to stay calm. No progress was ever made by aggravating an already aggravated (and perhaps even a little frightened) man. Knowing this, Kakashi kept his tone of voice equally cool when he addressed Kuro.

"True, but we both know you'd never have a chance with her if you tried to do something like that now, because I'd kill you before you as so much as reached down to pull down your fly. Besides, you haven't done any real harm…yet, but once the Hokage finds out you violated her apprentice, a girl she practically considers to be her own daughter, I highly doubt she'll be anywhere near as forgiving towards you. I, on the other hand, the Hokage considers a nuisance. I'm not saying she doesn't value me as well, but she values me as a ninja, not her protégée like this girl."

Kuro glared at Kakashi, but Kakashi knew he had won this argument. There'd be no way Kuro could have his way with Sakura with the Copy Nin only a few feet away, so he might as well cut his loses and snatch up the other opportunity being handed to him instead.

There was a reason Kakashi was often praised for his way with words. If Ibiki was great at interrogation, then Kakashi was equally great at negotiation, and it all came down to one basic principle that he discovered to be the key to most, if not all, good persuasion:

Put the issue at hand to the other person's advantage.

It may be difficult for most people to hear, but humans in general are selfish. Even the most altruistic people tend to look out for themselves and those close to them first. As such, if you twist whatever you say so that it sounds like it's to the other person's advantage, you can practically sell them on anything.

In this case, all Kuro wanted more than anything was to come out of this encounter unharmed and alive so that he could ultimately escape, so Kakashi twisted his true intent so that it sounded like he was guaranteeing all those things to Kuro…_If_ he left Sakura unharmed.

"Fair enough, but first I want to see you bind your feet and lay on the ground with both hands behind your head. I see one suspicious move out of you and the girl is dead. I know that to you, my life holds less value than hers, so what good will it do if you kill me, but she ends up dead as well?"

Kakashi hated an opponent who was also good with reverse psychology.

"Okay, but let her go first and then I'll bind myself up."

"Sure, and you'll kill me the instant I release her."

"I won't." Kakashi reassured him.

"I don't believe you." Kuro said stubbornly.

"And how do I know you won't just take both Sakura and me captive if I do bind myself up first?"

Kuro narrowed his eyes and ground his teeth. It seemed that he and Kakashi had come to an impasse.

"It's like trying to capture a bell." Kakashi said good-humoredly while scratching the back of his neck.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Kuro asked confused.

"This." Sakura said, and before Kuro knew it, the seemingly dainty girl he held beneath him used her chakra strength to release her wrists from his grasp, twist around, and try to elbow him.

On impulse, Kuro jerked his body away, but his side still managed to be grazed by a sharp, chakra infused elbow. Kuro yelled out in pain twice as loud as before and watched with blurry eyes as Sakura ran away from him a second time.

Before Kuro could take another step, Kakashi was on the rogue nin in a second.

"That's quite enough of that." Kakashi said, wrapping a chokehold firmly around Kuro's neck, much the same way he put a chokehold on a Sound Nin back when Team 7 was first formed much to Sakura's delight.

The Sakura of present, however, was bent over, trying to catch her breath, but the grateful (albeit exhausted) gaze she gave Kakashi said the same thing…_Thank God you're here._

Kakashi smiled back at her beneath his mask, his smile reaching all the way up to his one exposed eye, and Sakura gave him a small smile back.

The moment was broken by Kuro's wheezing, but instead of letting up, Kakashi only tightened his grip around his neck. Kakashi had no intention of killing Kuro because the information he knew was too important, but he had also pushed all of Kakashi's buttons. There was a reason no one ever dared lay a hand on Sakura when Kakashi was around. Now Kuro knew why. Heck, he even knew the reason behind the why even if Sakura herself, the very object of Kakashi's overprotection, didn't.

For a minute, Kuro's wheezing stopped and Kakashi looked down to make sure he didn't kill the guy by accident. He hadn't, but what he did see was a fleeting, evil glint in Kuro's eyes.

Kakashi's eye widened.

Adding salt to the wound, Kuro cracked an equally wicked smile up at him. It was then that both men came to a wordless understanding.

The worst thing a person of Kakashi's stature can do is reveal his weakness to the enemy, yet Kuro saw clearly for himself what Kakashi's weakness was, and she was standing right there opposite them.

That was the unspoken understanding between them…That if Kuro ever managed to escape, Sakura was the first thing he was going after to get back at Kakashi, so if Kakashi knew what was good for him, and for Sakura, he must make sure that no such thing ever comes to pass.

Kakashi wanted so badly to just kill Kuro right there and now…And that's what the evil smile on Kuro's face was for: Because both men knew that Kakashi was helpless to do any such thing.

Then, out of nowhere, a black gloved fist socked Kuro in the stomach as hard as it could.

"You ever come near me again and next time I'll put chakra behind that punch and you won't even have a stomach anymore!" Sakura spat.

The weight of Kuro in Kakashi's arm grew heavy as the man grew limp from the blow.

Kakashi beamed at Sakura. He may be helpless against Kuro, but it didn't mean that Sakura was, too. In fact, the fire in her eyes said she was more than ready to dig her sharp nails into Kuro's balls, make him cry for mercy, and castrate him with her bare hands. _That_ would be her mercy.

"Sakura-chan! Don't kill him! We need him!" Naruto shouted as he ran out into the clearing with Yamato and Sai close behind him.

"I wasn't going to, baka!" Sakura shouted back, but then she lowered her head down to Kuro's level and said in a whispered sneer. "As long as you don't give me a reason to."

If she hadn't punched Kuro so hard, he probably would've given her a snide comeback, but fortunately, she _had_ punched him hard, so the most Kuro could do was hug his torso protectively and give an agonized look of pain.

Satisfied with her handiwork, Sakura removed her gloves, put them back in her pouch, then walked away straight and tall with her head held high.

"What happened, Kakashi-sempai?" Yamato asked bewildered.

Without letting his eye leave Sakura's departing back, Kakashi answered with a happy eye crease "Teamwork."

To be continued...


	6. Determined

**Chapter 6-Determined**

* * *

Sakura stood in Tsunade's office with her head bowed down, not looking directly into her teacher's eyes out of respect. Up until this point everything had been going smoothly:

Their captive didn't escape on the way back to Konoha considering how he faded in and out of consciousness half the time.

When they handed him over to Ibiki, the interrogator's only response was, "You didn't leave me much to work with now, did you?"

Which only left giving a mission report to Tsunade, which was what Team Kakashi was doing now. By all means the mission was a success, but Tsunade had one major complaint:

"What did you do to him?!" she asked when she saw Kuro. "Hatake, I said not to hurt him!"

"Nani? But you said not to kill him. You didn't say anything about not hurting him!" Kakashi replied, his one exposed eye wide and a drop of sweat trailing down his temple.

Tsunade looked ready to punch the Copy Nin straight through her office window, but Sakura quietly interrupted.

"Please, Shishou. It wasn't Kaka-sensei's fault. It was mine."

"_You_ did that to Kuro?" Tsunade asked, turning to look at her apprentice in surprise.

"Yes, I did. I'm so sorry." Sakura said, genuinely distraught. "I went into the forest to bathe, but on the way to the stream Kuro had taken me hostage. I had no choice but to defend myself."

To Kakashi's relief, Sakura didn't mention anything about the awkward conversation he and Sakura had that forced her to run into the forest by herself in the first place. Not only would Tsunade have his head for it since it was the catalyst for Sakura's capture, but he would've also had to explain the details of that conversation.

Then again, maybe that was the very reason why Sakura didn't mention it. Like Kakashi, she probably didn't want to have to explain to Tsunade (someone she considered to be a second mother to her) and the rest of their teammates that she ran away from Kakashi because he had correctly guessed what she felt for him. It was all too personal and neither Sakura nor Kakashi wanted to bring it up to anyone else's attention if they had to.

"So you acted in self defense?" Tsunade reiterated, trying to clarify Sakura's statement for the record.

"Yes, Shishou. Kuro was going to rape me, but that's when Kaka-sensei came to my rescue and the two of us worked together to bring Kuro down."

The instant Sakura said "rape," Kakashi saw in Tsunade's eyes the same burning rage he had felt back in the forest. Meanwhile, Naruto, Yamato, and even emotionless Sai all looked shocked. They knew Kuro had captured Sakura for collateral, but neither she nor Kakashi had told them that Kuro had intended to force himself on her as well. If they had, then they (Well, Naruto) would've recklessly killed Kuro and that was absolutely forbidden.

After squeezing the edge of her desk into splinters and regaining her composure, Tsunade addressed Sakura in a steady, matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"Well, if you acted in self defense, then neither I nor anyone else can blame you for your actions, but in the future, please try not to rough up our captives so much. That's Ibiki's job, not yours."

"Yes, Shishou." Sakura quietly replied, still keeping her eyes respectfully down, yet if she had bothered to raise them up, then she might have seen the bright look in Tsunade's eyes that everyone else saw. It was a look that clearly said that Tsunade was actually proud of Sakura.

"Very well, then. You're all dismissed. Good job, everyone. You've just earned yourselves two weeks paid vacation. Enjoy it while you can!"

"All right!" Naruto cried, jumping up and punching the air ecstatically.

Everyone smiled as well.

Surprised at being rewarded, not reprimanded, Sakura finally raised her eyes up to her mentor only to be even more surprised by the big smile on Tsunade's face.

At long last Sakura's body relaxed and she smiled warmly back.

She just kicked an extremely valuable S-class criminal's butt and got away with it. Shannaro!

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to go get myself some Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto stated the minute they stepped out of the Hokage's office.

Everyone else would have normally passed, but after days of nothing but mission rations, a nice, steaming bowl of soup actually did sound good and ultimately, Naruto's regular trip to Ichiraku's became a Team Kakashi "Mission Success" dinner instead.

It became an unspoken rule that when Naruto would take one stool, Sakura would sit on the one next to him, and Kakashi would sit on the one next to her, keeping the original Team 7 together. Then, Yamato would sit next to Kakashi, and Sai would sit next to Yamato, keeping the ANBU group together. After all, "Bird's of a feather flock together" and Kakashi just happened to be the one bird who dipped a wingtip each into both flocks, but in light of recent events, there was a bit of tension between Kakashi and Sakura, yet no one but Kakashi and Sakura themselves seemed to be aware of it.

When you go from friends to seeing each other as more than friends, something funny happens. First and foremost, you gradually become more aware of the other person: Where s/he may be and what the proximity of his/her body is to yours. You also pay more attention to the little things you didn't particularly pay much attention to before: The sound of that person's voice and his/her laugh, every little touch s/he presses against your body no matter how slight.

And that was exactly what Kakashi and Sakura were experiencing now.

Even though there was sufficient space between them as two bar stools could ever allow, they were both highly aware of the gap between them. It was as if they could feel each other's body heat through the small distance, gravitating them towards each other, and the more they resisted its natural pull, the more they became aware of the tension it created.

After everything that had happened during the mission, Sakura wanted nothing more than to rest her weary head against Kakashi's shoulder.

Meanwhile, Kakashi could see how exhausted Sakura was and longed to wrap an arm around her and pull her against him.

Yet for all this desire, for the few seconds that their fingers actually did touch as a bottle of hot chili sauce was passed all the way down from Sai to Naruto like a chain gang, Kakashi and Sakura didn't dare let their hands stay on each other's for too long even if the brief contact was warm and inviting and inducive to longer hand holding.

"So what are you guys planning to do for the next two weeks?" Sakura asked between bites, trying to keep her mind off whatever was going on between her and Kakashi.

"Sleep until the two weeks are up." was Naruto's muffled reply as he tried to talk around a mouthful of noodles.

"Sit outside and work on my sketches." Sai said, giving a genuine smile as opposed to his usual fake one.

"Read." Kakashi answered with a happy eye crease.

Nobody was surprised by his answer, nor were they surprised to see that his bowl was already empty. Kakashi tended to eat and drink quickly simply to keep his unmasked face unseen. As a result, his food seemed to disappear like magic. One minute it was there, the next minute it wasn't.

"Take care of things that I haven't had the chance to do since we've been away, like laundry and shopping." Yamato said, ever the responsible one. "What about you?" he asked Sakura since she had been the one to ask the question in the first place.

"Probably the same," she admitted.

It was a decent enough answer, but not a very exciting one. Somehow, Kakashi didn't think that was quite right. Sakura deserved better than just doing chores and errands on her time off. She should be out having fun and enjoying life. Come to think of it, he should be, too.

Inwardly, Kakashi felt shocked. He thought being back home might bring what he was considering to do back down to earth and make him change his mind, but surprisingly that wasn't the case at all. If anything, he felt more strongly about it.

When everyone was so full that their stomachs felt heavy, all that was left was to go home and get some much needed rest, but while everyone else began to go their separate ways, Kakashi caught up to Sakura instead.

"Sakura, wait!" he called after her.

Sakura stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at him questioningly.

"Yes, Kaka-sensei?"

"I just wanted to tell you that you were really amazing when you went up against Kuro and how proud I am of you," Kakashi said, smiling down at her with a happy eye crease.

"Thank you." Sakura replied, her cheeks turning bright red in embarrassment.

_Oh, dear,_ Kakashi thought. _She's going Hinata Hyuuga on me again._

"Anyways, since we have all this time off, I was just wondering if you'd like to go out for coffee sometime?" Kakashi asked, scratching the back of his neck nervously. He didn't really drink coffee, but that's what you're supposed to say when you want to ask somebody out for the first time, right?

"Oh! Thank you! But I don't really drink coffee." Sakura said, her eyes growing wide in surprise at being asked in the first place.

"Ahahaha! I knew that!" Kakashi laughed nervously, a trickle of sweat trailing down his temple. It wasn't a lie, he did know that about Sakura. He was just trying to follow first date protocol.

"What about a drink then? Maybe some sake?"

"Are you kidding? Have you seen Shishou when she's drunk? Once, Shizune and I had to hold a pigtail each while Shishou threw up. I thought it would never end! It was really disgusting. That was an after school special for alcohol abstinence if I ever saw one!"

The vision of their Hokage endlessly puking made Kakashi screw up his face in disgust as well.

"Uh, right, of course. Well, how about-"

"Kakashi-sempai!"

Kakashi and Sakura both turned around to see Yamato walking towards them.

"Yes, Tenzou?" Kakashi asked slightly irritated. He was sure that if he had just kept asking that he would've eventually found something Sakura would agree to.

"Can I have a word?"

"Yes, of course."

The two men took a few steps away from Sakura, then Yamato covered his mouth and whispered into Kakashi's ear, "With all due respect, sempai, I think you could use a cold shower."

At this, Kakashi's cheeks turned red above his maskline.

Feeling that he had overstepped his bounds, Yamato back peddled a little.

"I mean, we've all been traveling for days and we could all use some cleaning up." Yamato said amicably.

"Right." Kakashi replied, but his one exposed eyebrow was furrowed down at his second in command.

Sakura looked between the two older men, sensing the awkward tension between them. Yamato seemed to be trying to keep up an innocent appearance while Kakashi didn't seem to be buying it and looked ready to use his Sharingan on the other man instead.

"I'm sorry," she said loudly, interrupting the private conversation between her two commanders. "It's late and I'm exhausted. I'll see you guys around, okay?" Sakura said. It was the truth, but more importantly, it was a viable means of escape.

The two men broke the staring match between them and turned to smile and say goodbye to her in return.

Once Sakura was a fair enough distance away, Yamato turned back to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sempai, I know it probably isn't any of my business, but are you hitting on your student?"

Kakashi turned redder than he already was, but stood his ground.

"Tenzou, you seem to have forgotten that Sakura isn't my student anymore and hasn't been for years. She's been in Tsunade's care for far longer than she ever was in mine."

"Still, isn't she a bit young?"

"She's 22."

"That's still young, sempai."

"It's old enough for her to live on her own and drink if she wanted, although apparently she's not much of the drinking type." Kakashi mused, scratching his chin. "But that's beside the point. What do you care if I want to ask Sakura out?"

"Because you're not the kind of person to ask _anyone_ out, period. And to have it be your former student no less! I'm simply asking the same things other people are going to ask because it's inevitable that people are going to talk about this."

"I stopped caring about what other people think a long time ago. I have no reason to start now." Kakashi said stubbornly.

"I thought as much." Yamato said, the expression on his face softening. "I just didn't know that Sakura was your type, that's all." he said kindly.

"Neither did I." Kakashi admitted, but there was a definite sinking of his heart when Sakura was no longer in sight.

"If it counts for anything, I'm not going to stop you. I'm actually kind of glad that you've finally found someone worth asking out. Good luck, sempai." Yamato said, gently patting Kakashi's shoulder.

"Thank you, Tenzou." Kakashi smiled back, grateful for his best friend's support and understanding, and with that, the two men finally parted ways.

As Kakashi walked the dark streets of Konoha with his hands stuffed deep inside his pants' pockets, his mind wandered. Transforming a stable friendship into something more wasn't only tricky and complicated, but it was a great risk, too. What if things didn't work out? He might as well kiss his longtime friendship with Sakura goodbye. Was he willing to take that risk? And yet another thought entered his mind: What if he never took the risk and missed out on something truly great and life changing? That wasn't a regret he wanted to live with the rest of his life either.

Functioning on auto mode, Kakashi made his way back to his apartment, undressed, and like Yamato suggested, took a well needed shower. The steaming water seemed to wash away days of filth and grime, and it seemed to clear his head, too, but one needling thought remained: What was he going to do about Sakura?

Even after Kakashi was dried, dressed, and snug beneath his shuriken patterned bedspread, he still looked up at the ceiling, hands pillowed behind his head, contemplating.

It was good to be home in more ways than one, but the main reason Kakashi was glad for it was because if they were still on a mission, his constant thoughts about Sakura could distract him and get himself, or worse, one his teammates killed, but now that they were all safe at home, he could think about Sakura as much as he liked. He could turn thoughts of her over and over in his head until he finally figured out a way to change their relationship from friends to more than friends because even though he wasn't quite sure how exactly to do that, he was sure about one thing: The way he felt about Sakura and his willingness to risk everything for her. It was all Kakashi needed to give him the motivation and determination to somehow, someway make Sakura his.

To be continued...


	7. Stalking

**Chapter 7-Stalking**

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* * *

**

Ninjas are stealthy and sly. They know how to manipulate and maneuver situations to their advantage. Normally, ninjas don't use their skills on other ninjas unless they're an enemy. In this case, however, that's exactly what Kakashi was doing.

He wasn't stalking Sakura, exactly. After all, he ran out of food and clean clothes, too, after having been gone for days on their mission. As such, it was inevitable that they would run into each other at the grocery store (even if his place was on the other side of the village) and the laundromat (even though his place was on the other side of the village _and_ his apartment building had laundry machines in the basement), but who needed to know all that? All that mattered was that he was accomplishing things that needed to be accomplished and if he just happened to run into a certain roseate haired young woman, then all the better.

The ironic thing about trying to run into somebody, however, is that when you want to run into somebody, you usually don't, and when you're not even thinking about somebody at all, you suddenly run into him or her. It was for this reason that Kakashi was using his ninja skills and reputation for reading _Icha, Icha_ on rooftops or treetops or just about anywhere in the village to his advantage, putting the odds of him running into Sakura in his favor.

On this particular day, Kakashi sat reading his book on top of one of the highest branches on one of the tallest trees in the village. Thousands of leaves kept him cool and shaded from the sun, and what little sunlight did peek through the branches looked like mottled splotches of light on the open pages of his _Icha, Icha_ book. It was the type of day that guilt tripped people into getting off their lazy behinds and actually going outside and doing something, which meant that maybe Sakura would be out and about as well.

It had already been a good few hours since Kakashi first took that particular vantage point and even the crazy idea of using his Sharingan to look for Sakura had crossed his mind more than once. The reason he hadn't done so already was because he thought it would be a bit of overkill, but not only that, it would be proof positive that he actually _was_ stalking Sakura which wasn't what he was doing. Really.

Oh, who was he kidding? He was stalking her, no doubt about it. He was hiding up in the trees like a hunter waiting for his prey so that he could jump her. Well, not jump her, exactly, but be all suave and innocent and "Oh, hey there, Sakura. Fancy meeting you here."

Kakashi dropped his head down in shame. He was pathetic. He was nothing more than a creepy old man who had a thing for his younger (much younger) subordinate and now he was freaking stalking her! They were the actions of a lonely man who obviously needed to get out more.

_But I am outside_, Kakashi reasoned to himself.

_Stalking. Reading porn and stalking_, sulked the other side of him.

Kakashi's face burned red beneath his mask and as if to prove his inner self wrong, he snapped his book shut, tucked it into his back pouch, and jumped down from his perch to head back for home.

Anyone walking past Kakashi on the street didn't bother giving him a second look because for all intents and purposes Kakashi looked like his normal calm self, walking in his slow easy gait with his hands stuffed in his pockets, but in the inside it was a completely different story. Inside, Kakashi was beating himself up to a pulp. He was attracted to Sakura like a moth to a flame. The attraction was risky and dangerous in both situations, but that didn't stop the moth and apparently, it didn't stop Kakashi either. In Kakashi's mind Sakura was worth it, so he was beating himself up for another reason:

Any other decent person would just knock on Sakura's front door and ask her out, but the thing was that in this case, a direct approach didn't seem to be working. After trying to ask her out for the first time and Yamato had interrupted, Sakura knew what Kakashi was up to and ever since then she seemed determined to avoid him. Kakashi knew that he should probably just give up, but he couldn't shake the feeling that she felt the same way for him as he did for her and as long as that hunch still existed, he wasn't going to give up on her so easily.

"Kaka-sensei! I've been looking for you!" a young, feminine voice called behind him.

Kakashi looked calm and unperturbed on the outside, but on the inside he nearly jumped out of his skin and again, he was beating himself up. He was an elite ninja for cripes sake! No one should be able to come up to him unexpectedly, but that's exactly what happened. He had been so distracted by his train of thought and so intent on finding a flash of pink hair as he walked through the village that he hadn't expected Sakura to be the one looking for him, especially since she had been avoiding him lately. It would be an understatement to say that Kakashi was completely thrown off.

On the outside, however, Kakashi slowly turned around to look lazily back at Sakura, his hands still stuffed in his pockets.

"Hi, Sakura." he said with a friendly eye crease.

Sakura blushed.

Before, Kakashi could smile at her half a dozen times a day and there would be no reaction from her whatsoever. Now, he only had to smile at her once and she'd pull a Hinata on him.

"Hi, Kaka-ku...sensei!" Sakura quickly amended.

Kakashi's one exposed eye widened. Was she just about to say "kun"? She used to only add that suffix to Sasuke's name, but then again, after Sasuke had tried to kill her it was more like "Sasuke-baka!"

"Did you need me for something?" Kakashi asked, hoping that by asking he would make Sakura less flustered. If there was one thing Sakura was good at, it was keeping her head when she had both drive and a purpose. It's why she did so well on the field or at the hospital when the world was crumbling around her.

"Yes, the rest of the team and I want to train and we were wondering if you wanted to join us." Sakura stated calmly after clearly getting a hold of herself.

It wasn't an out of the ordinary request. It was normal for ninjas to train even on their time off. They constantly have to so that they won't fall out of shape when they do get called away for a mission.

It was also normal to train with fellow teammates. It not only ensured that they'd work seamlessly when it counted, but it would strengthen their bond as a team as well. If they were one person short during training, that missing person could become the weak link that could unravel both the team and the mission.

"Yes, of course." Kakashi said, answering Sakura's question with another happy eye crease.

Again, Sakura's face turned red and whatever self control she had regained flew straight out the window once more.

"Oh...good." she said hesitantly, not sounding very convincing.

It was then that Kakashi knew that it wasn't her idea to go looking for him in the first place. Whatever the circumstances were, she somehow ended up with the job of inviting him even though it was the complete opposite of what she wanted to do.

_Is she afraid of me or is she afraid of herself and how she reacts when she's around me?_ Kakashi wondered.

"They're meeting us at Training Ground 3 in a few minutes. They sent me to make sure you'd be on time if you agreed to come. They figured that I could beat you if you found ways of being late along the way."

"Ah..." Kakashi said in comprehension. It all made sense now. "Well, I guess we better get a move on then. I wouldn't want to make you have to make a move on me." he said cheerfully.

Sakura's eyes widened and (Kakashi didn't think it was even possible) her face turned even redder than before. It was supposed to be an innocent enough statement, but anything having to do with her making a move on him or him making a move on her seemed to make her react the same way lately. It also confirmed Kakashi's suspicion: Sakura was afraid of him _because_ of how she reacted around him.

Kakashi looked at Sakura from the corner of his eye as they slowly made their way to the training fields side by side. It was their first time being alone together since Ichiraku Ramen's. He liked her company and he tried to walk as close to her as he dared. She didn't object or try to increase the distance between them which made Kakashi curious. She liked him, but she avoided him, but when she couldn't avoid him, she seemed to enjoy his company as well. Then again, nobody would criticize them if they were simply headed for the training grounds together, especially since they were teammates. Nobody wants to admit that s/he cares about what other people think, but it's human nature to do so anyway.

_If our being together wouldn't be so controversial, would she be less fickle?_ Kakashi wondered.

"Kaka-sensei," Sakura began, interrupting his thoughts. "Why is it that I'm the only one who can get you to show up on time for anything?"

"Because if you're the only one who can get me to show up on time, then they _have_ to send you to fetch me."

"You do it on purpose?" Sakura asked, anger and irritation seeping into her voice.

"What can I say? I like your company." Kakashi said with a happy eye crease.

"I've noticed." Sakura said through clenched teeth, although she was clearly fighting another blush of embarrassment from what he'd just said.

"Noticed what?" Kakashi asked innocently.

"C'mon, Kaka-sensei! I turn around and you're right in my face. I walk backwards and I bump into you. When I'm flying through the trees, you keep pace with me branch for branch. You seem to be everywhere lately! If I didn't know any better, I'd think you had a gang of Kage Bunshins following me everywhere I go!"

"Of course I don't, Sakura, but now that you mention it, that's not a bad idea at all," he said, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

"Wha-" Sakura began flabbergasted. "Yes, yes it is a bad idea! Haven't you ever heard of 'personal space' for crying out loud? And why are you all up in my business anyway?"

"Because I like you."

"So you decide to stalk me?"

"Because I thought you like me, too."

"That's not grounds for stalking, Kaka-sensei!"

"So you admit that you do like me." Kakashi said, sounding a bit smug.

"That's not what I was- Will you please just stop- We're almost at Training Ground 3." Sakura said flatly, clearly regretting her goof and trying to change the subject.

Kakashi seemed undeterred.

"Sakura, if you like me, then why-"

"Because this really isn't a good idea, sensei." Sakura said, cutting him off.

"If you're afraid of what other people might think-"

"Please, Kakashi...don't." Sakura said with a pleading look in her eyes.

"I don't blame you for being afraid, but if you feel the same way-" he began, closing the distance between them to place a hand on one of her arms.

They were close enough to feel the heat of each other's bodies and rather than pull away from Kakashi, Sakura found herself drawing nearer to him instead.

"Oh, good. You guys made it!" Naruto's overly cheerful voice cut through the air.

Kakashi and Sakura quickly parted from each other as if they had been caught making out instead of barely touching.

"What's the matter?" Naruto looked between the two of them confused.

"Nothing!" Kakashi and Sakura said in unison, both red-faced.

"O-kaaay..." Naruto said with a raised eyebrow.

Yamato and Sai looked on in silence, but since one of them already knew what was going on and the other one was observant enough to catch the drift of what was going on, basically everyone except the densest one of them all (Naruto) knew what was going on.

Yamato cleared his throat. "Well then, let's get started, shall we?" he said.

"Yes, everyone take a spot." Kakashi agreed, silently thanking his second in command for changing the subject.

With everyone taking a place on the field, they began to do warm-ups. After all, it would be ridiculous for an elite ninja to sprain a muscle simply because s/he didn't properly warm his/her muscles up during training. Sure, Sakura could heal the injury in a flash - literally - but then again, knowing Sakura, she'd let whoever was dumb enough to do something so stupid to themselves live with the pain even for just a little bit just to teach him a lesson. It was true she had a sweet disposition and would go out of her way to heal a fallen comrade, but she also had a short fuse like her Shishou and didn't mind showing a little bit of tough love if she thought it would get her point across.

At the moment, however, everyone was doing the proper stretches and Sakura herself was bent down at the waist, holding onto one of her ankles to stretch out the muscles in her legs.

Kakashi wasn't trying to look. Honestly he wasn't, but there it was, Sakura's curvy derriere right in front of his face. Well, not right in front of his face, exactly, because Sakura made sure to take a position that was a fair enough distance away from him, but he happened to be holding onto his right ankle and she was turned away from him, holding onto hers, so he couldn't help but see said curvy derriere…even if he was supposed to be looking down at the ground, not up and diagonally across at the view in front of him.

Kakashi let out a low, frustrated growl. This was torture.

To someone unknowing (Naruto), it just sounded like a growl of someone releasing tense muscles. If only he knew it was actually the reverse.

When it came to neck rolls, Kakashi was close to losing it. With her eyes closed, Sakura's long lashes splayed on her cheeks like sable brushes and with each roll of her head, her pale pink hair fell like a fine silk curtain on her shoulders. Neck rolls never looked so sensual.

Kakashi had seen Sakura do warm ups before, thousands of times, but now he was seeing them from a completely different light.

Thankfully, _finally_, warm ups came to an end.

"So what's the exercise for today, Kaka-sensei?" Naruto asked with bright-eyed eagerness.

Although warm-ups were fairly methodical, the training exercises themselves could vary from session to session, assuring that everyone was kept on their toes and didn't become jaded with the same exercise over and over again.

Kakashi wasn't even thinking of an exercise regime for today. Up until this point all his thoughts were on...His one exposed eye fell on the two large seafoam colored ones looking back at him with as much anticipation for an answer as the rest of their team.

Kakashi was just about to spit out his go-to answer of "Bell Test" when another idea popped into his head.

"Well, Naruto, since you've already surpassed me and everyone else with your fighting skills, I think that for your training to mean anything, you need to go up against at least two ANBU members from now on. It'll also be good for Yamato and Sai because if you weren't one of the good guys, you'd be an S-class criminal. They'll be as good at testing your skills as you will be in testing theirs. As for you..." he turned to look at Sakura, "I think I owe it to you to give you more time and attention since I've had a history of always paying more attention to the boys instead. Now I'm going to make _absolutely sure_ you are and always will be my top priority." And with that, Kakashi smiled down at Sakura with an extra sparkle in his eye.

Sakura, for the nth time of the day, blushed.

Naruto looked between Kakashi and Sakura confused, but Kakashi had, after all, just paid him a huge compliment by saying that he, Uzumaki Naruto, was so strong now that he needed _two_ ANBU opponents for there to be a fair fight against him, so Naruto shot his former sensei and his former childhood crush one last dumbfounded look then ran off to the far side of the open field with his soon to be dead (or at least extremely worn down) teammates.

Once Naruto and the rest of Team Kakashi were the size of mere ants in the far distance, Kakashi slowly turned to Sakura and giving her his sweetest, most adorable happy eye crease, cheerfully said:

"Well, since we're all alone now, let's do it!"

To be continued...


	8. Illusion

**Chapter 8-Illusion**

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**

In retrospect, it probably wasn't such a good idea to take Sakura on one-on-one. In retrospect, he probably should have been more concerned about protecting his own back instead of trying to get Sakura flat onto hers.

_Holy..._ Kakashi didn't even have a chance to finish the thought as he quickly ducked away from a petite, black gloved fist aimed straight for his head. If Kakashi didn't know any better, he'd think that Sakura was trying to kill him!

"Sakura..." _*dodge*_

"Take..." _*dodge*_

"It..." _*dodge*_

"Easy!" Kakashi cried.

"Why? An enemy isn't going to take it easy on you, so why should I? Besides, how do you expect me to learn anything if you won't stop taking it easy on me?" Sakura asked, her frustration only making her punches come even quicker.

"I'm not!" Kakashi said, jumping further and further back away from Sakura's incessant blows. "It's true that I don't want to hurt you, but I don't want to insult you either by not trying, so trust me, Sakura, I'm not holding back on you!"

"I..." _*punch*_

"Don't..." _*punch*_

"Believe..." _*punch*_

"You! Shannaro!" Sakura yelled, punching the ground beneath Kakashi's feet with all her might. If she couldn't get a direct blow on him, she could at least unbalance and disorient him.

Moving fast, Kakashi hopped from one stepped fissure to another before finally jumping up and taking refuge at a nearby tree.

"Sakura, listen to me!" Kakashi yelled down from the safety of the treetop. "The last time I sparred with you one-on-one, well, sort of one-on-one, was during the second bell test with Naruto. That was almost seven years ago. Seven years is a long time for both of you to learn more and improve. I don't know if Tsunade has told you this, but you're nearly at Naruto's level which means that soon you'll be close to surpassing me as well. That means that at this very moment you're on the same level as me. We're equals, Sakura. You're my perfect match and I'm yours."

Sakura looked up at Kakashi, the scowl on her face slowly melting away to be replaced by surprise and realization instead.

"But you used to be ANBU."

"I was, but you were also taught by one of the Sannin. Whether you take my word for it or not, Sakura, you're just that good."

Sakura didn't know what to make of all this. She didn't doubt the sincerity of what he was saying. What she was having problems with were all the compliments he was pouring on her. She had heard more compliments from him in the past few weeks than all the years she had known him, and to be perfectly honest, it was actually making her quite suspicious.

"That still doesn't explain why you're so interested in training me all of a sudden." Sakura said, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"I like you, Sakura, and I want to spend more time with you." Kakashi replied with a happy eye crease, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"So the only way I can get you to pay any attention to me is if you want something from me in return." Sakura said, raising an eyebrow up at him.

"What? No! That's not it all!"

"Oh, really? So if I was ugly and undesirable, you'd still want to train with me?"

Kakashi wanted to say something about training with Sasuke and Naruto who, although not ugly, were not desirable to his personal taste, but decided against it.

"All I want is to make amends. I cut you short by paying more attention to the boys than to you. I know I'm a bit late, but you're used to that sort of thing from me by now, aren't you?" Kakashi laughed nervously as a drop of sweat trickled down his temple.

"Kaka-sensei, I forgave you for that a long time ago. I won't deny that I pretty much complained to Ino, my mom, and just about anybody who would listen about being neglected by you-"

"Again, so sorry." Kakashi muttered in shame.

"But like I said, it's okay. I'm over it. I've _been_ over it. Shishou turned out to be exactly who I needed to strengthen the skills I had, and in time I came to understand that the boys needed you more than I did. What I don't understand now is how training with you is supposed to help me if you say we're on the same level. Shouldn't I be training with someone who's a level up from me? I mean, you've got Naruto going up against Yamato-teichou and Sai just to give him a better challenge. I figured it would be the same for me."

"Have you ever heard the saying 'Your own worst enemy is yourself'? Well, it's the same thing here. If you beat me, you're essentially beating yourself and the level you're at now. As for Naruto, none of us are at his level anymore, so it wouldn't work the same way. It would be like putting a tom cat up against a jungle cat. You and I, however, we're both tom cats. Do you understand now?"

"Clearly. May the best tom cat win." Sakura smirked.

Then, out of nowhere, a second Sakura slammed hard into Kakashi from behind and they both tumbled out of the tree and into a roll on the grassy ground below. Meanwhile, the Sakura whom Kakashi was speaking with poofed away in a cloud of white smoke.

_Shadow Clone._ Kakashi's eye widened in realization. He didn't have much time to dwell on his mistake, however, as he and the real Sakura continued to roll on the ground, both of them dueling for dominance and trying to be the one on top.

Then, in an ironic twist of fate, it was Kakashi who found himself flat on his back with Sakura straddled on top of him, her small, chakra-infused hands pinning his larger ones to the ground.

"Give up, Kaka-sensei?" Sakura asked, her eyebrows furrowed together with a triumphant look on her face.

"Don't get too cocky, Sakura. Hardly anyone beats their own best score on their first try," he said, quickly flipping both of them over until...He was pinned flat on his back by Sakura again.

"_Now_ do you give up?" Sakura asked with a wry smile.

Kakashi's eye widened. He knew Sakura was strong, but this was ridiculous!

"No." Kakashi said stubbornly.

Learning from his first vital mistake, Kakashi rolled them back over one last time, just quick enough to lift up his hitai-ate and expose his Sharingan, so even though Sakura had him pinned below her again in no time, Kakashi simply had to look straight up into her seafoam colored eyes and send his black tomoe spinning.

* * *

The sky was a pure, cloudless blue, not the blood red Kakashi had experienced when Itachi had put him under the power of the Sharingan all those years ago.

Similarly, Kakashi and Sakura's skin, hair, and eyes were the same color as they were in real life, not the inverted, disorienting black and white of Itachi's doujutsu.

In the world Kakashi created, everything was what it was in real life, just more vibrant, warm, and beautiful. It was meant to be a heaven, not a hell. Nevertheless, Kakashi still caught Sakura trying to break the spell with a "Kai!" but this wasn't a traditional genjutsu, so there was no effect.

Not one to give up without a fight, Sakura tried to attack Kakashi, but with each running attack she made, the length of the grassy meadow between them remained the same.

After the second attempt, Sakura caught on to what he was doing and realized the futility of her actions, so she stood still and looked around her, trying to find something that she could use to her advantage: A rock to throw at him, a tree branch to hit him with, anything to help defend herself, but in doing so Sakura finally _saw_ where she was and she felt her defenses slowly melt away.

She was barefoot and the tall grass that reached to her ankles felt soft and slightly damp, not dry and itchy like grass normally does.

Tiny yellow flowers whose miniature trumpets were no bigger than a fingernail were scattered amongst the slender, emerald green blades.

The air smelled clean and pure with just a hint of sweetness from the flowers at her feet.

She could breathe.

Normally, her breathing was burdened by all the silly and not so silly things that stressed her out, but now it felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest and she could just breathe, deep and easy.

In this place, Sakura had never felt so at peace. In this place, she felt one of those rare moments of clarity where everything makes sense and everything feels like it's in its rightful place.

A light gust of wind blew against her face and played with her skirt and she realized that she was no longer dressed in her usual red, black, and khaki attire. Instead, she was dressed in a breezy white dress whose skirt flowed from her hips and billowed around her ankles.

Kakashi was not dressed the way he normally was either. Instead, he was dressed only in his jounin pants and black tank top with attached mask, and without a hitai-ate to hold his hair back, his hair fell just a little bit over his eyes.

And then, Sakura was no longer looking at Kakashi from a distance. The wide gap between them had disappeared. He was standing right before her, smiling down at her the same way he had the day he saved her from the exploding tag, and she was smiling back at him, grateful to him again, this time for the gift he had given her because Sakura finally realized that this place, this _world_ Kakashi had created, it was for her. The sky, the meadow, all of it…Just for her.

Kakashi lingered long enough so that they could feel the heat emanating from each other's bodies and breathe in each other's scent and then, just when he felt her starting to move in closer, he pulled away, breaking the invisible link between them.

Sakura blinked, looking up at him in shock and disappointment. She couldn't understand why he broke the spell. Everything had felt so right. She had just laid her hand on his chest, lifted her head up to his, and was just about to-

But then she heard Naruto calling out their names.

Like being pulled out of a dream half done, they were back on the training field.

Sakura was still on top of Kakashi, pinning his hands down, and Kakashi was still looking straight up into her eyes, only this time his left eye that held the Sharingan was closed.

As Naruto's voice neared, Sakura lifted herself shakily off Kakashi. She didn't have the strength to stand up and chose to simply sit on the grass instead. Actually, what she _really_ wanted to do was to lie completely flat on the grass and cover her face with her hands, her head was spinning so much, not only from the doujutsu, but from the implications behind it.

"I beat them both!" Naruto said excitedly, his overly loud voice ringing in Sakura's already sore head.

Meanwhile, Naruto's two sparring partners, Yamato and Sai, came slowly up behind him, looking the way Sakura felt.

"Good job, Naruto! That's quite an accomplishment on your first try!" Kakashi said, smiling up at him approvingly.

Like Sakura, Kakashi sat casually on the grass, his legs bent in front of him with his arms loosely hugging his knees. From the way they were both seated, you'd never think that they just had a serious sparring match or went to that secret place Kakashi took them to in his mind's eye.

"Sakura-chan, what's the matter? It looks like you just saw a ghost!" Naruto said, looking down at her worriedly.

"I'm fine, Naruto." Sakura said dismissively, but in truth she was anything but.

After refusing help from both Kakashi and Naruto, Sakura shakily got on her feet, dusted herself off, mumbled something about seeing them next time for training, and goodnight.

If she'd bother to look back, she'd have seen three of her four male teammates looking at her a little baffled. Kakashi was the only one who didn't. After all, he was in on their little secret. Their own little world.

* * *

Later that night, Sakura lay wide awake in bed, staring up into empty darkness.

Why would Kakashi show her something like that? What was he playing at? But more importantly, she tried to figure out whether what she had felt for him in that place had been real or, like the world itself, had it only been an illusion?

To be continued...

* * *

Here's a drawing I made for this chapter. Just remember to remove the spaces:

shippertrish. deviantart. com/art/KakaSaku-Genjutsu-166264012

**Update 6/9/10:** Here's another one: shippertrish. deviantart. com/art/KakaSaku-Perfect-Match-167100359


	9. Yes

**Chapter 9-"Yes"**

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Even days after, Sakura still couldn't stop thinking about what happened no matter how much she tried. She kept wondering if Kakashi would use that same genjutsu on her again the next time they trained together. What worried Sakura more, however, was how she didn't think she would mind it at all. In fact, to her shame, embarrassment, and self loathing, she actually hoped he would.

After what happened with Sasuke, she tried to think with her head, not her heart because recklessly following her heart only seemed to get her into trouble.

With Kakashi, she thought that avoiding him was both following her heart and her mind, but now that what she felt for him and thought of him was completely turned upside down, she wasn't sure if she could trust either ever again.

Lost in thought as she aimlessly wandered the streets of Konoha, Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin as a figure suddenly dropped down from a tree she was just about to walk under.

"Hi, Sakura." Kakashi said, smiling down at her with a happy eye crease.

"How did you-" Sakura began bewildered. "Never mind." she finished in a defeated monotone.

Well, that answered the question of whether or not he was still stalking her.

"Hi, Kaka-sensei. What's going on?"

"You know, you're just the person I was looking for." he said cheerfully.

Sakura wanted to ask "As opposed to who else?" but didn't, and just said "Oh, really? How come?" instead.

"Well, actually, I need to ask you for a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow up at him suspiciously.

"Well, I was just wondering…" Kakashi began, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Sakura had seen him sweat before, but not like this.

"Yes?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me." he said quickly.

"Oh!" Sakura said, her eyes wide in surprise. "I don't know, Kaka-sensei..." she began, barely able to look at him, her cheeks flushed red.

"Before you say 'No,' you should know that it's not what you think. I just need someone to bring with me to the Annual Konoha Benefit Dinner."

"Oh…That." Sakura said in realization.

She hadn't forgotten about it. In fact, she had been doing preparations for it in the Hokage's office for the past few months, and when she was sent away on missions, both Shizune and Tsunade had continued to work on it.

It was a meet and greet, a chance for both civilians inside and outside of the village to meet a few ninjas who had become famous in their own right. The idea was to hopefully get the wealthiest of those civilians so awestruck by their local celebrities that they'd want to donate money to Konoha's militia, if not find some reason to hire a team on privately. For that reason, it was usually the most elite ninjas who were put out on display, like Kakashi. It was basically a horse and pony show, but anything to make a profit. In fact, it seemed to be one of only a few things that Tsunade and the Elders agreed upon…Even if Tsunade's main reason for agreeing to the whole ordeal, above all else, was the open bar.

"Actually, come to think of it, I've never seen _you_ there." Kakashi said, having a wide-eyed epiphany himself. "How do you get out of it every year? I'm surprised Tsunade-sama doesn't force you to come the way she always forces me."

"It's because I don't have the same reputation as you."

"Well, maybe not before, but you must _now._ You're one of Konoha's top kunoichis and medics, and the Hokage's apprentice on top of all that. Those star struck civilians would eat you right up!"

Honestly, Sakura hadn't been complimented or blushed so much in her life as in the past few months ever since Kakashi had started stalking, correction, _pursuing_ her.

"Well, lucky or unlucky for me, I'm usually busy at the hospital or doing Shishou's paperwork while she's at the party. After all, somebody has to pick up the slack. Besides, you're not required to bring a date. Why do you want to suddenly bring one now?"

"Because if I show up alone, I'm going to have all these women throwing themselves at me."

"And that's a bad thing? I thought you'd like all that attention."

"It's not the right kind of attention. They only want to be with me because of my reputation or the way I look or for some other shallow reason."

"You don't know that. For all you know your soul mate could be somewhere in that crowd and now you're going to miss out on her because you never gave her a chance."

"It's a nice thought, Sakura, but I highly doubt that my soul mate is going to be in that crowd because-" Kakashi gave her a curious look, then hesitated.

"Because...?" Sakura egged him on when he didn't seem to have any intention of finishing his sentence.

"Because I've been in that type of situation several times before and not once did I ever meet a girl there who I felt I could connect with. They either talk about something I share no interest with at all, or I talk about something and they _pretend_ to be interested in it, too, but I know they really aren't."

"How do you know that?"

"Because when I start talking about my missions and they smile back politely, but with a vacant look behind their eyes, then I know they're not really interested in what I have to say."

"Well, why are you burdening them about work in the first place? That would turn anybody away!"

"Because they asked! They always start off by saying how they know me as the Great Copy Nin and ask me to tell them about my missions, and then when I _do_ tell them, they could care less. I'm telling you, they're only interested in my status. They're not really interested in me."

"Then talk about something else."

"Like what? My interest in porn books? Somehow I don't think that's going to fly either."

"Hm, you're right. Your lack of variety in interests is a problem." Sakura said with a hint of a smile.

"I'm serious, Sakura."

"I know." Sakura said, still smiling. "It's a wonder you can even talk to me."

"But you're different. You've known me for a long time and most of the time you were right there with me on those missions. You know exactly what I'm talking about and you don't have to pretend to be interested, you just are. That's why-" Kakashi hesitated again. "That's why you need to go with me to this thing. I'm not one to beg, but you'd really be doing me a huge favor if you did."

"I don't know..." Sakura hedged." Couldn't you ask somebody else instead, like Kurenai maybe?"

"Kurenai is busy being a single mom."

"Which is why she'd probably appreciate the night off. I'm sure Shikamaru would be more than happy to babysit. Besides, you two might hit it off and then she won't be a single mom anymore."

"Sorry, Sakura. I don't feel right about dating my dead friend's wife."

"I don't see how it would be a problem."

"Let's just put it this way: If things did become serious between Kurenai and me and we ended up, well, you know...I'd feel really weird knowing that one of my closest friends was in the same, um, position once, and I'd constantly be thinking that his ghost was looking over my shoulder while we were, well, you know."

"Now that you put it that way, I can see how that would be weird." Sakura said, screwing her face up. "But don't you think it would be even weirder if you brought someone half your age and your former student no less?"

"Half of thirty-six is eighteen. No offence, Sakura, but you haven't been eighteen in years. And as for the other thing, 'former' is the key word there."

"I still think you'd be better off taking someone closer to your own age, like…Anko!"

"Uh...no."

"Why not?"

"Because as bad as a gaggle of giggling girls may be, Anko is ten times worse! She's way too presumptuous and I'd be uncomfortable all night. Worse, I'd probably be running away from her all night!" Kakashi said, his one exposed eye wide in fear at the mere thought of it.

"I don't know, Kaka-sensei. It's still hard to believe that of all the eligible women out there, you'd want to go with me instead."

"And I think you're the most obvious choice. We're teammates, we're friends, we've known each other for a long time, and we're comfortable with each other. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather take."

Sakura didn't know what to say. Kakashi was making it really difficult to say "No" to him, and like the genjutsu from before, she didn't know if she even wanted to say "No" to him. Nevertheless, Sakura tried one last ploy.

"If you hate going to this thing so much, then why don't you just send out a Shadow Clone instead?" she asked.

"I tried that once." Kakashi admitted. "He got so tired of getting his butt pinched that he decided to suddenly poof away. It scared most of the ladies and Tsunade-sama wasn't very happy about it. She said that if I did something like that ever again that she'd confiscate my _Icha, Icha_ collection." Kakashi said, clearly panic-stricken.

"She can do that?"

"She's the Hokage. She can do anything."

"Which is why I probably shouldn't go. Like I said, who'll pick up the slack at the hospital and the Hokage office if I go?"

"I'll talk to her. Besides, you'll be of more value to her if you're schmoozing with a bunch of rich people than being locked up in the Hokage Tower doing paperwork that Kotetsu and Izumo could do, or hiding away at the hospital doing work that nurses could do. C'mon, Sakura. It's no big deal. I show up with you on my arm, you keep the butt pinching girls away for the night, and then you go home having helped a friend out. You are my friend, aren't you?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed. At this point in their relationship, she knew when Kakashi was pulling a smooth one on her. As Kakashi, the king of smooth talking, had taught her once "One of the keys to getting someone to do something you want, is to keep them agreeing with you. After all, once a ball is rolling one way, it takes extra effort to get it rolling another way, so in negotiations, keep the ball rolling with yeses instead."

"Yes, of course you're my friend." Sakura said in defeat.

"So you'll help me out?"

"Yes, of course I will." she said, slumping her shoulders in surrender.

"Great! Then I'll meet you on Saturday night at your place at eight!" Kakashi said with a big happy eye crease before mussing up Sakura's hair the way he used to when she was younger. Then, he turned around and slowly sauntered off for home with his hands stuffed in his pockets. If Kakashi whistled and skipped, Sakura imagined that he'd be doing those things, too.

Sakura watched his departing back a bit mystified. Did she actually just agree to go on a date with him? She had been trying so hard not to ever since they came back from the Kuro mission. Was he finally wearing her down or did the genjutsu get to her?

_No, of course not!_ Sakura tried to comfort herself. He was just a friend in need and she was helping him out. That's what friends are supposed to do for each other, right? Help each other out? So it wouldn't be a date…not really. Besides, what harm could going with him to what was basically a work function possibly do?

To be continued…


	10. Dancing

**Chapter 10-Dancing**

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So far one of the biggest surprises of the night was that Kakashi actually showed up on time to pick her up.

Sakura had considered not getting ready until the last minute. After all, if Kakashi said he would be there at eight, it most likely meant that he wouldn't be there for several hours after that, but Sakura decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides, she was too nervous and excited to procrastinate. She couldn't understand why. It was just Kakashi and it was just a work function. She had never been nervous or excited about either before, so how was it any different now?

As Kakashi stood in front of Sakura's open front door holding a single, long stem yellow rose (a symbol of friendship, as her kunoichi classes had taught her) and smiling down at her with a happy eye crease, Sakura knew exactly why.

Dressed in a pair of black dress pants and a black dress coat over his regular black tank top with attached mask, Kakashi looked every bit the part of "tall, dark, and handsome." Just looking at him made Sakura's stomach do flip flops. And _that's_ why it was different: Because Sakura had an irrefutable, irrational crush on her very handsome, very eligible team captain.

"You look amazing." Kakashi said, speaking out loud the very thing she was thinking about him.

"Thank you. You do, too. It's nice to finally see you out of uniform, even if you are still wearing parts of it."

"You got me." Kakashi laughed, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "This is for you," he said, reaching out to give Sakura the rose.

Sakura smiled sweetly at Kakashi, took the rose from him, and smelled it with a polite "Thank you," but Inner Sakura did a facepalm on her large forehead.

_What was she doing?_ This was her former teacher, a man waaay too old for her, and here she was in a black, spaghetti-strapped, floor length dress that screamed "Take me NOW!"

_I've lost my mind. That's what it is._ Sakura thought to herself as she turned away from Kakashi and walked into her kitchen to find a vase for her rose.

She had considered (barely) dressing more conservatively, but she rarely had the chance to get all dressed up and go somewhere nice. For the most part, she was dressed casually as missions, hospital work, and office work dictated. This was her chance to feel elegant and beautiful for once, and who knew when that opportunity would come back around again?

While she had been getting ready, Sakura tried to push aside exactly _who_ she was making herself look elegant and beautiful for, but that was her excuse and she was sticking to it: She, like most girls, just wanted to feel like a princess for a night.

"I didn't think you'd be on time." Sakura admitted as she found a suitable bud vase in a cabinet under the kitchen counter.

"I didn't want to keep you waiting." Kakashi said as he walked around her living room taking everything in.

"That's never stopped you before, Kaka-sensei!" Sakura said, remembering all the times he had kept her and the rest of Team 7 waiting for hours on end before a training session or mission.

"True, but I've never taken you out to dinner before either."

Sakura felt her face heat up and was glad that the vase didn't slip out of her hands as she ran it under the kitchen faucet.

"Yes, you have. Plenty of times." she said, feigning casual dismissal.

"Having Ichiraku Ramen after a mission with the rest of the team isn't taking you out to dinner, Sakura."

_Why was he doing this?_ Sakura wanted to know. She was trying to find ways to make this date seem less like an official date, but he was thwarting her every step of the way.

"But you're not even paying for anything tonight!" Sakura protested.

"I didn't pay for those Ichiraku meals either."

"No, you're right, _we_ did." Sakura said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Ahahaha!" Kakashi laughed as a drop of sweat rolled down his temple. "Well, at least you don't have to worry about picking up the tab tonight."

Sakura rolled her eyes at him, then gently placed her now rose filled vase in the middle of her small dining table.

"Maybe you should give in to one of those rich, giggling girls, after all. Maybe they won't mind paying for a deadbeat boyfriend."

"Deadbeat? I'm not a deadbeat." Kakashi said wide eyed.

"You keep telling yourself that, Kaka-sensei."

"I'll have you know that if I ever did have a girlfriend, that I'd be the best boyfriend ever and shower her with gifts."

"Is that why you've never had a girlfriend? To keep from paying for her?"

"What? No, of course not! I have more than enough money to take on a girlfriend."

"I know you do, taking on all those A-class missions. I've been on most of those missions, too, remember? I know how much you make because I make the same thing! Which is why you have no excuse to duck out on the bill!"

"It's not my fault I forget my wallet."

"You never seem to forget your _Icha, Icha_ books!"

"Sakura, that's different." Kakashi said solemnly.

"How?"

And so the conversation, banter, lover's quarrel, whatever you want to call it, went on from the time the two of them exited Sakura's apartment to the time they walked down the streets of Konoha and made their way to the Annual Konoha Benefit Dinner.

* * *

The benefit was to take place in one of most exclusive restaurants in Konoha, The Enkei, or The Vista.

As Kakashi and Sakura approached the restaurant, the first thing that they saw was the long line stretching out from its front door to all the way around the street corner. Tonight it was less about the restaurant's exclusivity as it was about its security. It was true that someone would have to be out of their mind to try and infiltrate a gathering full of elite shinobis, but just to be on the safe side there was A-class security nevertheless, which was the reason for the hold up.

Being guests of honor, Kakashi and Sakura made their way to the back of the restaurant where, again, there was another line, but much shorter than the one for the civilians.

In spite of differences in location and length, both civilian and ninja lines were checked for I.D., making sure that everyone was who they said they were, and both were checked for genjutsus, again, to make sure that there weren't any impostors, but that's where the similarities ended.

For one, the ninjas weren't checked for weapons and exploding tags as it was their duty to be always armed and ready. The civilians, however, were checked for such things. After all, plenty of criminals had been caught and imprisoned by the ninjas in attendance. Even if the criminals themselves couldn't make it to the gathering, who's to say that one of their friends or family members couldn't come in their place to seek vengeance?

Secondly, the ninjas weren't immediately brought into the large ballroom like everyone else. Instead, they were led into a private room in the back where they were served drinks and appetizers, much like the civilians out in the ballroom. The plan was to slowly let each ninja into the ballroom one by one, but only after Tsunade had done a small spiel about each ninja first: Who s/he was, what his/her contributions were to the community, and so on. It was truly a pain in the ass, but according to the Elders, it made the attendance of each ninja seem more special than if they were simply immersed in the crowd from the beginning, and besides, that was the way it was always done.

You couldn't feel too bad if you weren't one of the ninjas invited. Some ninjas were simply out on the field and some ninjas, like Kakashi, weren't too keen about going in the first place. Nevertheless, Sakura was relieved to see that most of her friends were there.

...Until she realized who her "date" was and how it would look. She began to sweat until it dawned on her that they didn't have to know that she and Kakashi came together. For all they knew, they just ran into each other on the way here and decided to walk together the rest of the way, and if they did start to ask questions, she could just tell them the truth: That Kakashi just wanted a butt pinching deterrent and she was it.

To Sakura's relief, no one even gave them a second look. She was right, they didn't suspect anything. Feeling safe for the time being, Sakura began to casually talk with Naruto and Ino while Kakashi began to talk with Yamato.

Unlike the rest of her friends, Yamato did notice, even if Sakura didn't notice that Yamato noticed.

Speaking so discretely that his lips barely moved, Yamato asked:

"Kakashi-sempai, are you and Sakura on a-"

"Date? Yes, Tenzou." Kakashi said nonchalantly who, unlike his subordinate, apparently didn't care if other people heard him or not.

"Is she _aware_ that she's on an official date with you?"

Kakashi scratched his masked chin, mulling the question over.

"Yes...but I think she's in denial." Kakashi said honestly.

"And you're okay with that?" Yamato asked, his face making stranger and stranger expressions. He always did have a way of making faces.

"Don't worry, Tenzou. I have a handle on it." Kakashi said, clapping Yamato on the shoulder as he walked past him after hearing Tsunade call out his name.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Yamato murmured as he watched Kakashi's departing back.

One by one they were each slowly called out. Everyone couldn't help but feel a little nervous and giddy while they waited their turn. It's difficult not to when you know that hundreds of people will be looking specifically at _you_. That kind of situation could make anyone self conscious even the most weathered ninjas who had no qualms about facing multi-story high animal summons, but withered in front of a hundred staring gazes.

When it was Sakura's turn, she couldn't help but feel strange being literally put under the spotlight, but she also had to admit that it felt good to be appreciated. After all, they did constantly put their lives on the line for others and it was nice to be recognized and honored for a night.

Saving the best for last, Naruto was the final person to be called out. He received not only the loudest applause, but a standing ovation not only from the civilians, but his comrades. Not bad for someone who once was (and still was considered in a way, but a good way) the village idiot.

Once the formalities were over with, everyone went to their assigned seats.

There were individual tables circled around the large dance floor. Each table was large, round, and covered by a white cloth, seating around six people each.

At each table there was at least one ninja for the civilians to converse with. Who sat with whom depended on the status and wealth of the civilians. As such, Naruto ended up sitting next to the most noble and wealthy civilians while the other ninjas were dispersed according to which civilians wanted to meet which ninja.

Priority of who actually got the ninja of their choice was again based on the civilian's status and wealth. It was undoubtedly discriminatory (again, the Elders doing), but this was business, after all, and business sometimes had to be brutal in order to succeed.

Fortunately, after the meal, everyone was free to move around and talk to whomever they wished, so even if a starry eyed civilian didn't have a chance to eat with let's say Naruto, that person could still talk with the kyuubi container afterwards...They'd just have to wait his/her turn as other people clambered around him.

In a strange twist of fate (or perhaps not so strange considering Kakashi's verbal way of manipulating people to get his way), Kakashi and Sakura ended up assigned to sit side by side at the same table. Sakura took a moment to raise a skeptical eyebrow up at him at which Kakashi simply laughed nervously, scratched the back of his neck, and gestured for her to go ahead of him.

As Kakashi and Sakura approached their table, the four other people already seated there stood up to greet them. Since the civilians at their table were getting not only one, but two highly prized ninjas as their dinner companions, they were equally notable and prestigious people as well.

"Hi, I'm Hishou Kouchou, niece of Bird Country's daimyo," said a young woman who looked like she was in her late teens and whose seat was to Sakura's immediate right. She bowed to Kakashi and Sakura, who both bowed back then shook hands with her.

"And my name is Yutaka Saiki. It's such an honor to meet you," said a man who looked to be in his mid 50's. He exchanged bows then reached out across the table to shake both Sakura and Kakashi's hands. "And this is my wife, Amai, and my son, Kogai." he continued, pointing a hand at a woman who also looked to be in her 50's and a young man who looked to be in his early 20's whose seat was to Kakashi's immediate left.

Both politely bowed, smiled, and shook Kakashi and Sakura's hands as well.

"Yutaka, as in Yutaka Konoha Exports?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, that's us." Amai smiled sweetly.

Between Saiki and Amai, they both owned several of Konoha's export businesses, exporting everything from raw materials, like lumber, to manufactured goods, like clothing, to both the nearest and farthest reaches on both land and sea.

Introductions over with, everyone took their seats with Kakashi pulling out Sakura's chair for her.

Finally able to just sit back and relax, Sakura was finally able to admire and be in awe of her surroundings. She had been to the restaurant before for preparations, but the restaurant never ceased to amaze. Also, she had only been there during the day, not the night, which was a completely different story.

One wall of the restaurant was an enormous, seamless window, its glass reaching from floor to the two-story ceiling and stretching out from one end of the restaurant to the other. The view beyond it was equally amazing, overlooking the hundreds of glowing lights from the village below and the Hokage Mountain beyond it, which sat perfectly centered in the window's frame.

During the three course meal everyone fell into pleasant conversation, but only after their dinner companions got over the shock of how quickly Kakashi ate and drank, and over the disappointment of not being able to finally see his face.

Kogai, the Yutaka's son, overcame his awestruck speechlessness over Kakashi and warmed up enough to ask him questions about his most famed missions, like the one against Zabuza, of which Sakura was able to add to as well having been there herself. At least Kakashi had finally found an audience who genuinely cared about his mission stories rather than a group of hormone-driven girls who merely asked due to their ulterior motives.

Meanwhile, Sakura's own admirer, the daimyo's niece, Kouchou, couldn't stop asking Sakura her own questions about what it was like to be a female ninja and medic, admitting that she had dabbled in self defense classes and first aid classes herself out of admiration of Sakura's own successes.

While the younger people at their table seemed to be in awe of Kakashi and Sakura and idolized them, the older couple, Saiki and Amai, seemed to respect the younger couple because of their longstanding friendship and ability to work together so well.

"It's like you're almost a married couple yourselves!" Amai said brightly.

At the insinuation, Sakura's face turned red in embarrassment.

"Oh, thank you, but we're not like tha-"

"Sakura! Care to dance?" Kakashi asked, taking that exact moment to interrupt.

"But I was just explaining to the Yutaka's that we're not toge-"

"It's such a nice song! I'd really love it if you'd do me the honor of dancing with me."

"But-"

Before Sakura could say anything else, she was already pulled up on her feet with Kakashi sweeping her away in a simple two-step, swaying dance.

"Aww...How romantic!" Amai gushed behind them.

"But we're not-" Sakura began, looking over her shoulder at the older woman, only to have Kakashi twirl her around by one hand before she could finish her sentence.

When Sakura was safely back in his two arms, she glared at Kakashi.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing!" she said through gritted teeth.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kakashi said with a happy eye crease, spinning her around again, but this time with an added dip.

Somewhere, Sakura could hear Amai clapping.

When Sakura was right side up, she glared at Kakashi again.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I just didn't want you to ruin our cover."

"What cover?"

"You're supposed to keep the butt pinching girls away by being my date for the night, remember?"

Sakura's eyes widened. She was so caught up in enjoying her evening that she forgot the reason why she agreed to come with Kakashi in the first place.

"Oh, right. I'm sorry." Sakura said, humbled.

"It's fine. Just try to keep up appearances, okay?" Kakashi said with a happy eye crease.

"Yes, of course." Sakura said, still shamefaced and danced the rest of the song with him without putting up a fight.

When the song came to an end, they both returned to their seats just in time for dessert.

"That was lovely. You two make such a cute couple." Amai gushed.

Sakura felt her face heat up in embarrassment again, but rather than disagree, she just smiled politely and put a big spoonful of the dessert into her mouth.

Kakashi, however, wrapped an arm around Sakura's bare shoulders and with a big happy eye crease said "Why thank you!"

Sakura choked and coughed on her cake, making Kakashi quickly remove his arm from around her shoulders to gently pat her on the back instead.

"You okay, sweetheart?" Amai asked concerned.

"I'm fine, thank you." Sakura said weakly, grabbing a glass of water and taking a good long sip from it. "I think I just bit off more than I can chew," she smiled at the older woman, then turned around to discretely glare at Kakashi.

"Ahahaha!" Kakashi laughed nervously as a drop of sweat trickled down his temple.

After that Kakashi no longer tried to push his luck lest he pay for it later and not in a good way. However, he was stuck on her like glue. If they weren't sitting and talking with their table mates, he took her out on the dance floor to dance. And if they weren't doing those things, he'd sit alone with her at their table or stand in a secluded corner with her and have a quiet conversation with her and only her. The only time Sakura had a chance to get away from him was when she had to excuse herself to go to the ladies' room, and even then he never looked so happy to see her when she came back.

If it weren't for the fact that Kakashi seemed to have an easy enough time sharing a conversation with their table mates, Sakura would've thought that he was clinging to her because he was socially inept, which obviously wasn't the case.

So it had to be an act. Kakashi was only acting the way he was because that's just how badly he didn't want the other women coming on to him, but the thing was that Kakashi seemed to genuinely care only about her. When he looked at her, spoke to her, danced with her, everyone else seemed to melt away so that it was only him and her who existed in that place and moment in time. And Sakura hated to admit it, but she liked it. It was difficult to not feel special when there was a room full of women and the most eligible bachelor seemed to only have eyes for her.

The only problem was that it defeated the purpose of others getting to know him better and drumming up business, but the other women's hateful stares only made Sakura feel more entitled to all the attention Kakashi was giving her. It made her wonder what it was about him that made him so desirable in their eyes, and yet she already knew. She knew long before they ever did, and that's what was killing her. She shouldn't be looking and thinking about him that way in the first place, but she was. Like a moth to a flame…

During their tenth, fifteenth? Sakura lost count of how many dances - Tsunade started shooting Kakashi angry glares.

"Um...Maybe you should go out there and mingle." Sakura suggested.

Kakashi said nothing and just continued to dance with her. By the way he was stalling you'd think that he was being asked to read a line out loud from his _Icha, Icha_ book.

"I'm serious, Kaka-sensei! I know that look on Shishou's face and if you don't start making yourself available to other people here, she's going to find some way of making you pay, big time."

Kakashi sighed and Sakura felt the hand that was holding hers up droop a little.

"Sure, but only if you go with me." Kakashi said defeatedly.

"Of course. I am your date for the night, aren't I? Don't worry, sensei. If someone as so much as bats her eyes at you, I'll make _her_ pay big time." Sakura said with an evil smile.

It was only after the words had come out of her mouth and Kakashi had a strange far off look in his eye that Sakura realized what she had just said.

"B-because I'm your friend. A friend just helping out another friend!" Sakura stammered.

"Yes, of course." Kakashi said, although the amused look in his eye was still there. "Well, I guess we might as well get this over with. Ready to face the wolves?" he asked, offering her the crook of his arm.

"Those 'wolves' are paying for our livelihood."

"Okay then. Ready to try and not bite the hand that feeds us?"

Sakura laughed. "Yes, and I think in your case it's 'Try to not poof away from the hand that tries to pet you'."

"It's not petting, Sakura. It's groping."

"Don't forget pinching."

"_And_ pinching."

* * *

For rest of the night, Kakashi and Sakura walked amongst the crowd, Sakura's arm virtually locked into the crook of Kakashi's. In a way, Sakura felt like a politician's wife because Kakashi was making it perfectly clear that they were together and she was his.

As they worked the crowd, Sakura realized that they seemed to do better with elderly married couples who felt a bond with the seemingly close knit young couple. There were also a few ladies who admired Sakura for her accomplishments as a female ninja and medic, and looked up at her the same way some young men idolized Kakashi. That, in addition to Sakura's friendly demeanor, won those girls over.

Perhaps Sakura's proudest moment was when someone asked her about taking down Akatsuki member, Sasori, with the help of Chiyo of Sand. The conversation slowly built up an increasingly growing group of listeners and through it all, Kakashi didn't say one word. He just stood by Sakura's side with an odd, proud look in his one exposed eye.

In the end, they were successful in drumming up more business, albeit not with the jealous single ladies crowd. True to her word, Sakura made sure to squeeze herself in-between Kakashi and any overly fond woman and kept others from pinching his butt from behind by wrapping her arm around Kakashi's waist. That gesture alone was enough to say "Keep off!"

However, it wasn't only the "wolves" who noticed Sakura's overly possessive behavior.

While Kakashi was safe in a crowd of non-groping women, Ino grabbed Sakura by the elbow and pulled her aside.

"Ino-pig, what are you doing?"

"Me? What are _you_ doing?"

"Well, up until now I was having a perfectly nice evening! Now it's your turn to explain!"

"I was having a perfectly nice evening, too, until it came to my attention that my best friend seems to be all over her teacher!"

Sakura's face grew red in embarrassment.

"Oh, that. Ino, it's not what you think!"

"Isn't it?" Ino asked, looking half crazed.

"No, it's not! Kaka-sensei asked me to be his date tonight so that I could keep those butt-pinching vultures away and that's all there is to it!"

Ino took a moment to survey her friend quietly.

"If that's all there is to it, Forehead, then why the dress?" Ino said, waving a hand up and down Sakura's body.

"It's a formal dinner, Pig! Of course I dressed up! You're dressed up, too, and you're waaay more exposed than I am!"

It was true. Ino always did dress more revealing than Sakura and tonight her body hugging violet dress was so short from both the top and the bottom that it barely covered her breasts and buttocks.

"Okay, then what about the looks?"

"Looks? What looks?"

"_The_ looks. The I-can't-take-my-eyes-off-of-you look. The if-you-get-too-close-to-him-I'll-murder-you look."

"It's all an act! Didn't I just tell you that I was doing Kaka-sensei a favor?"

"You're so full of it." Ino said, shaking her head in dismay. "The next time you're next to that big ass window, take a good long look at your reflection, Forehead. The way you and your sensei-"

"_Former_ sensei." Sakura said through gritted teeth.

"Fine. _Former_ sensei," Ino repeated. "Anyways, the way you two look at each other, that's no act. Your telling me that it's all an act, _that's_ an act!" Ino said with finality, then turned around, flipped her long, blond ponytail with one hand to make sure it hit Sakura in the face, and disappeared into the thick crowd leaving Sakura alone and speechless.

"There you are. I was looking for you." Kakashi said, coming up behind Sakura. "What's wrong he asked?" when he met her eyes.

"I-" she began, looking up at him desperately. "Nothing. It's just Ino being a pig again!" Sakura said angrily.

"Oh." Kakashi said quietly, the look in his eye clearly lost. "Well, if it's any consolation, the party's coming to an end anyway. Care to dance the last dance of the night with me?"

"I'd really like that." Sakura said, meaning it, and took Kakashi's hand once more. At this point they had danced so much together that the action felt familiar and comforting to her, erasing all her cares away for the time being.

She felt a rush as Kakashi twirled her away from him then twirled her back into his arms. It was strange being this close to him and yet Sakura felt like she couldn't get close enough. Her head fit perfectly against his shoulder as they danced. She could feel the heat of his body against her own. She could smell his cologne that he didn't seem to wear out on missions, but only when they were back home and only when he knew he'd be seeing her that day.

As Sakura snuggled against Kakashi, she caught her reflection in the window. She looked like someone very much in love in the embrace of someone who loved her very much as well.

That wasn't the only thing Sakura saw in the window's reflection. She saw Naruto staring at his former sensei and former childhood crush, realizing the exact same thing. The look on his face said that he was more confused than anything else.

Sakura turned around to look at the real Naruto, feeling awful, but then Hinata, who stood by his side, hugged his arm and said something which immediately made Naruto relax. He cupped a hand on his girlfriend's cheek and kissed her softly on the lips.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. After all, Naruto had no reason to be angry or jealous when he was already with the woman who loved him and whom he loved back.

The look in Sakura's eyes softened. She wished that she could find love like that.

"You okay?" Kakashi asked gently.

Sakura looked up into his eye and smiled ruefully up at him.

"I had a really wonderful night, Kaka-sensei. I just didn't want it to end," she said honestly.

"I had a really wonderful night, too, Sakura. Thanks for coming with me."

"Anytime." Sakura smiled that bittersweet smile of hers and said nothing more, choosing to close her eyes and snuggle deeper into Kakashi's embrace instead, hoping that the song would continue to play for just a little bit longer just so that she had an excuse to keep dancing with him.

**_It's you and me and all other people  
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you..._**

To be continued...

* * *

The song is "You and Me" by Lifehouse. Just remember to remove the spaces for all the following links:

youtube. com/watch?v=VE1FILogdUE

I drew two pictures for this chapter 7 months ago, which just goes to show how far ahead I've been planning some of these scenes:

1) shippertrish. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d2e7oae

2) shippertrish. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d2e39ds

**Update 6/25/10:** I did another drawing:

shippertrish. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d2sn0bd

Name meanings:

The husband - Yutaka (rich) Saiki (wisdom)

The wife - Yutaka (rich) Amai (sweet)

The son - Yutaka (rich) Kogai (protege)

The niece of Bird Country's daimyou - Hishou (flight) Kouchou (nightingale)


	11. Sex Appeal

**Chapter 11-Sex Appeal**

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**

As if she wasn't having difficulty trying to sort out her thoughts and feelings for Kakashi already, the party only exacerbated it.

On the one hand, Kakashi was everything Sakura should NOT want.

On the other hand, he was everything she wanted and more.

Was Ino right about them? She was at least right about how they looked at the party, yet if Sakura admitted that Ino was right, then she had to admit that she loved Kakashi not only to Ino, but to herself and she didn't know if she was quite ready for that because she wasn't sure if it was true herself. Also, if she admitted it to it now, it would mean a great deal of fighting and proving of those feelings in the future because a relationship like theirs would not be easily accepted.

As much as she wanted to, Sakura couldn't hide in her apartment and agonize over it for very long because before she knew it, their two weeks paid vacation were up and they were back on the field again.

The last few days had been extremely hot and muggy in the land of Fire, which was living up to its name. The inhospitable weather had brought about a chain of forest fires and hundreds of teams were sent out to douse them, including Team Kakashi. The benefit of having jutsu using ninjas, however, was that they were able to solve such problems with just a few hand signs and soon everyone was making their way back home again in no time.

The air was heavy and dense and it was difficult to breathe. Everyone's skin was moist with sweat and their clothes stuck to their skin. Normally after a mission, everybody was too eager to get back home to stop and take breaks, but right now everybody was much too uncomfortable not to and in the end the vote was unanimous to veer off course and cool off at a nearby lake.

"Dattebayo!" Naruto shouted as he jumped, fully clothed, into the crystal clear water and started doing backstrokes.

Yamato sat by the lake's edge, soaking his feet in the water like a plant soaking its roots.

Sai, who was drawing in his sketchbook, was just trying to stay the hell away from Naruto's excessive and completely unnecessary splashing.

Sakura quietly sat under a tree not too far from Kakashi's own, knees hugged to her chest, just enjoying the cool of the shade and gentle breeze. In a sense Kakashi had her all to himself.

At this point most people, including the densest one of them all, Naruto, knew what was going on between them. Sakura was the only person who wouldn't admit to it, so Kakashi decided to take it upon himself to give her the last few nudges needed for her to do so, and seeing how it was so damn hot, he might as well let the girl get an eyeful.

Oh so casually, Kakashi first pulled his hitai-ate off, letting his bangs fall over his eyes and exposing the scar that bisected his closed left eye.

Then, he pulled off his flak vest and long-sleeved shirt up and over his head, taking his sweet time so that the tight muscles of his stomach were slowly revealed inch by inch. Eventually, he was down to only his jounin pants and tight black tank top with attached mask.

A gentle breeze blew through his already mussed up hair and cooled his heated skin, making him feel better already.

From the corner of his eye, Kakashi caught Sakura breathlessly watching his every move from the corner of hers.

Kakashi was no fool. He knew what he looked like in the mirror. He knew what the general reaction of the female population was whenever he was around and he even knew the reasons for it, too.

When Jiraiya did his "research" for his _Icha, Icha_ series, he quite literally did his research. That's one of the many reasons why Kakashi had found Jiraiya's stories so captivating in the first place: Not only did they have some of the steamiest, most well written sex scenes he'd ever read, but Jiraiya also managed to somehow integrate some educational things in there, too, doing it in such a seamless, entertaining manner that his readers learned a little bit of something without their even knowing it.

So Kakashi understood why women got all crazy whenever he was down to just his jounin pants and black tank top with attached mask, or when they got a glimpse of his ANBU tattoo, or when his hair fell just a little bit over his eyes. It all came down to the basis of all sexual attraction: Natural selection and survival of the fittest.

It was true that nowadays a woman could just go out to the grocery store to get food or use a handy bottle of pepper spray for protection, but she still instinctively sought out a partner who would be the best hunter, provider, and protector for her and her family.

So the fascination with what Kakashi was wearing wasn't just about the clothing itself, it was about how the tight fabric accentuated the muscles of his chest and stomach and completely exposed the muscles on his arms.

His ANBU tattoo wasn't just a cool looking design, it brought even more attention to the muscles on his bicep.

And having stray pieces of hair fall just a little bit over his eyes was considered sexy because a head full of healthy hair indicated that person had a good genetic makeup. (1)

Kakashi knew all this, and now that he'd found a potential mate, he was doing his damnedest to strut all his good genes like a puffed out peacock.

Meanwhile, Sakura had seen her share of hot male bodies. It was one of the benefits of being a medic at a hospital where most of the patients were active shinobis, so seeing Kakashi half naked should be nothing to her, right?

That's the funny thing about attraction. It's true that you could admire someone for having a good physique, but when there's more to it, when you get along with that person, can laugh with him/her, share a friendship and a history with that person, it makes that previous attraction, the primal, physical one, stronger.

Sakura was trying her best not to look, but she was having a difficult time with it. It was one thing to see the well toned body of a young shinobi, like Naruto, but it was another to see the well toned body of a more seasoned shinobi like Kakashi. The muscles just seemed harder and thicker and set, as if fully established from years of fighting as opposed to a younger shinobi's muscles that were still growing and trying to take shape. In fact, they could easily be allegories of where each shinobi stood in the world: one mature and established, while the other still tried to figure things out.

Kakashi turned his head, smiled at Sakura with two happy eye creases, and gave her a "Yo" salute, indicating that he knew she was watching him.

Sakura's eyes went wide and a blush stained her cheeks, embarrassed at being caught red handed. She quickly and awkwardly smiled and waved back at him, then faced forward again to watch - more intently than was necessary - Naruto splashing Sai.

Sakura realized that Kakashi was still watching her with an amused look in his eye and her blush returned.

"I-I need to take a walk in the woods," she mumbled.

"Sure, no problem" Kakashi replied, smiling back at her with two happy eye creases.

If at all possible, Sakura turned a brighter shade of red before practically running off into the woods.

Kakashi folded his hands behind his head, leaned back on the tree trunk behind him, and smirked under his mask. This was going to be fun.

To be continued...

* * *

(1) Remember to remove the space after each period. Discovery Channel's "The Science of Sex Appeal":

dsc. discovery. com/videos/science-of-sex-appeal/

**Update 7/14/10:**

**SakuraButterflies** from deviantART and **P.O.J.A **from FanFiction both suggested that I do a drawing based on this chapter, so I did. =) Here's the link. Just remember to remove the spaces after the periods because FF doesn't allow links.

shippertrish. deviantart. com/art/KakaSaku-Shirtlessness-171373640


	12. Personal Space

**Chapter 12-Personal Space**

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**

Sakura shaded her eyes from the bright sun with one hand as she looked up at the electrical line which hung across from the bench she sat on. On the line sat around a dozen birds perfectly spaced apart from one another.

A latecomer soared through the sky, landing between two birds already perched on the line. In reprimand, the two birds pecked and squawked loudly at it, which consequently made them bump into the other birds sitting next to them, which led to even more loud squawking and vicious pecking.

Sakura screwed up her face and covered her ears in pain. The thought to simply get up and leave crossed her mind when a shadow darkened her vision through already closed eyelids. Opening her eyes again and looking up, Sakura saw a tall figure looming over her.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked, looking down at her in concern.

"I'm fine, thanks. Those birds were just making a lot of noise."

Kakashi turned around to look up at said birds.

"Want me to get rid of them for you?" he asked, not looking away from the perpetrators.

"No, it's okay! Thank you, though!" Sakura said quickly. Knowing Kakashi, he'd use his Sharingan to warp those poor birds to some unknown dimension.

"No problem," he said cheerfully, taking the empty seat next to her and throwing an arm over the back of the bench, making it look like he had his arm around her shoulders. Then, he crossed his legs with one ankle resting on one knee, making the bent leg on top lightly touch the side of Sakura's thigh.

Sakura let out an exasperated sigh.

Even birds like personal space, a concept of which Kakashi seemed to be completely unaware of lately. What he was doing now went beyond his earlier stalking. Every chance he got, Kakashi would find some excuse to physically bump into her, which was quite a feat for a ninja who is anything but clumsy.

Maybe she should squawk and peck at him like the birds, but - Sakura blushed - Kakashi was growing on her. At this point, she was so used to him getting into her personal bubble that it was weirder when he wasn't. If it was anyone else, she would have socked him in the face a long time ago, but she never punched him. She never even said a word. She would simply pretend it never happened, the same way he pretended it was nothing at all.

That's the funny thing about personal space: That even birds relinquish their right to personal space when they're in the midst of courting.

Sakura hated herself for not wanting him to pull away. She wasn't supposed to yearn for him that way, yet with each passing day she did in spite of herself. She tried to remind herself of the many reasons why a relationship with Kakashi would be wrong on so many levels, but the other part of her also kept reminding her of how right it would be on so many levels.

Sakura was no longer sure which side of the argument was being told by the devil on her shoulder and which side was being told by the angel. Although she had been positive that it had been the devil telling her a relationship with Kakashi would be a good thing, she couldn't help but think that maybe it was actually the angel whispering that side of the argument in her ear, and that made Sakura worry.

"You're here early." Sakura said, trying to break the silence between them and clear her head at the same time.

"I am? I thought we were all supposed to meet up at one." Kakashi said, confused.

Sakura looked at Kakashi, her eyes growing wide in realization.

"Oh my gosh, it actually worked." Sakura said quietly.

When the expression on Kakashi's face became even more dumbfounded, she began to laugh.

"Nani?" Kakashi asked, growing more confused by the second.

"Why didn't we think of this before!" Sakura said, throwing her hands up in the air and rolling her eyes up to the heavens.

"Think of what?" Kakashi asked who was now starting to sweat in discomfort. He didn't like it when he didn't know what was going on.

"Ten years! Ten freakin' years and this is all we had to do!" Sakura said, covering her face in self loathing while her body continued to shake in laughter.

"Sakura, will you please tell me what's going on?"

"I'm sorry." Sakura said, removing her hands from her face, which had turned red from laughing. "It's just that-"

"You're early, dattebayo!" Naruto shouted in surprise as he came around the street corner with Yamato and Sai in tow.

"We should do this more often." Sakura said to Naruto, getting up to greet him and the rest of their team.

"Do what?" Kakashi asked, getting up himself and getting more and more irritated at not receiving a straight answer.

"Sorry, Sempai, but you've been duped." Yamato said, patting Kakashi on the back good-humoredly.

"I have? How?"

"Should we tell him?" Naruto asked, although it was clear from the shine in his bright blue eyes that he was eager to do so.

"I don't know. If we tell him, he'll know and then it might not work next time." Sakura said reasonably.

"True, but he's always going to be late regardless if you tell him or not." Sai pitched in.

"Yeah, but maybe now he'll try to be even later than usual." Sakura replied.

"That's true, too." Naruto, Yamato, and Sai agreed, all nodding their heads in unison.

"May I just say that as team captain that I am highly disappointed by the fact that my subordinates are highly incapable of providing me with a simple answer to a simple question, and that I am deeply hurt to have been talked about and plotted against behind my back." Kakashi said solemnly.

Sakura, Naruto, Yamato, and Sai all turned to look at Kakashi, and then everyone, with the exception of Sai, burst out laughing. Sai simply smiled, but it was a genuine smile, and for him that was saying a lot.

"I can't get any respect." Kakashi said, slumping his shoulders.

"Oh, poor Kaka-sensei." Sakura laughed, rubbing his arm patronizingly. "It's just that we wanted to make sure you showed up on time for this next mission, so we said that we were all going to meet here at one, but the real meeting time isn't actually until three. We still have a few minutes to spare." Sakura said, smiling up at him.

Kakashi's one exposed eye widened in realization and then melted into a look of defeat. He seemed genuinely disappointed by the fact that his efforts to arrive late were thwarted.

"This was a great idea, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said enthusiastically.

"Thanks!" Sakura smiled, looking pleased with herself.

"_You_ came up with this idea?" Kakashi asked, looking at Sakura in shock, hurt, and betrayal.

"Ahahaha!" Sakura laughed, scratching the back of her neck nervously, a mannerism she had picked up from him after years of being in his company. "We're all here and good to go, right? And that's all that matters, so let's get a move on!" she said, then turned tail and sped walked towards the Great Konoha Gates, leading the way out of the village.

"Wait up, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, running after her.

Sai said nothing and just quietly slipped past Kakashi, although the polite smile he flashed Kakashi now was definitely a fake.

"You're not angry, are you?" Yamato asked worriedly.

"What? No, of course not." Kakashi said, looking coolly at him.

"Good. You always were one to take the high road." Yamato said, clapping Kakashi on the back one last time before following in the wake of the rest of their team.

Kakashi shoved his hands into his pants' pockets and slowly followed everyone else as well. Beneath his mask, however, Kakashi was smirking. It was true that he usually took the high road, but an opportunity had just presented itself, and in this case he was fine with not getting mad, but getting even, and he knew just how to wipe that smug smile off of Sakura's face.

* * *

Exhausted and tired, Team Kakashi pretty much dragged themselves through the Great Konoha Gates after their mission. It was a complete contrast from how they energetically left through the gates at the start of their mission. It was usually that way: Excited to leave, worn out when they came back.

Sakura and Naruto barely lifted up their heads and waved their hands to acknowledge their friends, the rest of the Konoha 11, as they reentered the village. It was rare to have the famed 11 all together at one spot at any given time, but it was summer and it was usually cooler outside than inside the buildings and everyone knew that the best cool breezes (Aside from on top of the Hokage Monument) were to be found by the Great Konoha Gates, which is how the Konoha 11 all came to be conglomerated in one spot at the same time.

Kakashi knew it would be evil to do this, especially right here, right now. He had even considered backing down, but he still had the business of revenge to take care of. Besides, not all of the Konoha 11 had been present at the Charity Dinner, and although word of mouth assured that most of them were aware of the "situation" between him and Sakura, a real live demonstration seemed called for.

"Sakura, can I talk to you for a minute?" Kakashi asked, right before Sakura and Naruto turned a corner.

"Sure, Kaka-sensei." Sakura said, nodding for Naruto and the rest of their team to go on ahead of her to the Hokage Tower where they were all due to give a mission report to Tsunade. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Making sure that his normal eye was towards the rest of the Konoha 11 who were either laying or sitting under the shade of one tree, and that even Kotetsu and Izumo in their little guard shack could see (After all, Kakashi wanted to make sure that _everyone_ knew that Sakura was off limits now), Kakashi placed a hand on the wall behind Sakura's head, caging her in on one side.

Sakura's heart began to race. This looked and felt very...intimate. If she had been half asleep before from exhaustion, Kakashi had certainly gotten her attention and woken her up now.

From the corner of her eye, Sakura could see her friends over his outstretched arm. What must Kakashi and she look like with him singling her out like this? Sakura saw Ino elbow Chouji in the ribs, and everyone else also begin to stir. Apparently, Kakashi had woken up and gotten everyone else's attention as well.

Sakura's eyes widened as Kakashi proceeded to inch closer and closer. Was he going to _kiss_ her?

When Kakashi's masked lips were a mere few inches from Sakura's own, Kakashi turned his head so that his masked lips were inches from her ear instead.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked in a deep (and maybe Sakura was just imagining it), sultry voice.

Sakura gulped. "I just feel very warm all of a sudden," she admitted. It was true. With Kakashi so close, she could feel the heat of his body. Her highly attuned awareness of that and her growing embarrassment only made her own body temperature rise even more.

"It's the heat. You should take a cold shower when you get home." Kakashi needlessly suggested. Sakura was already planning to do exactly that the minute he caged her between his outstretched arm and body. "And try not to outdo yourself next time, okay? Not that I mind carrying you." Kakashi said, smiling down at her with a happy eye crease.

Sakura felt her face heat up at least one degree more, remembering how he actually did have to carry her in his arms (bride style, mind you) after she fainted from healing everyone of their various injuries from this latest mission. If Kakashi kept embarrassing her like this, her body temperature would keep rising and she'd eventually faint from heat stroke, which would only be even more humiliating.

"S-sure, Kaka-sensei." Sakura stammered. "We should probably go now. Shishou's waiting for us."

"Yes, of course." Kakashi said, smiling down at her with yet another adorable happy eye crease.

Maybe she'd faint like Hinata from simply blushing too much.

Sakura felt a wave of cool relief once she was completely away from him, but immediately felt the heat return to her face when she turned the corner and saw Naruto, Yamato, and even Sai staring at her in wide eyed surprise. They hadn't left, after all. They saw everything, too.

_Stupid Kakashi! What was he playing at?_

But it was obvious to Sakura and everyone else around them what Kakashi was playing at.

"You two seem to be spending a lot of time together. Are you courting each other?" Sai asked in that detached, scientific manner of his.

"What? No! Of course not!" Sakura shouted red-faced, before stomping away so quickly that she left the rest of her teammates behind.

"Did I say something wrong?" Sai asked, confused.

"No, you just stated the obvious like always, and someone is just in a state of denial." Yamato said kindly.

And with that, he and Sai followed in Sakura's wake, literally eating her dust.

Meanwhile, Kakashi did a quick survey of the damage he'd just caused:

The rest of the Konoha 11 as well as Kotetsu and Izumo were buzzing like a hive of bees, and Kakashi caught snippets of their conversation, everything from "I _told_ you something's going on between them!" to "Kaka-sensei and Sakura. Huh. I would've never guessed."

Once again, Kakashi stuffed his hands in his pants' pockets and smirked beneath his mask as he slowly followed behind the rest of his team.

Revenge was sweet, but marking his territory was even sweeter.

To be continued...


	13. Reversal

**Chapter 13-Reversal**

**

* * *

**

If Ino wasn't on Sakura's case about Kakashi before, she most definitely was now. What was worse was that now it wasn't just Ino badgering Sakura, but practically everyone who knew both her and Kakashi.

_This is all Kakashi's fault!_ Sakura seethed.

She tried avoiding him like the plague, but Kakashi continued to keep finding ways to walk with her, talk to her, and stand way too close to her.

That night, like every other night ever since Kakashi first began pursuing her, Sakura had another difficult time sleeping, but this time it wasn't from worrying about Kakashi's recent behavior. This time it was because her mind was too busy coming up with different ways of making Kakashi pay.

* * *

Sakura stood in front of Kakashi's front door hesitating and contemplating about turning back.

She ought to just sock him in the face and tell him to leave her the hell alone, but something inside of her kept her from doing that. It was one thing to punch Naruto for being a baka, it was another to punch someone who used to be her teacher and was currently her team captain.

In that case, she could always hit him with a sexual harassment suit instead, but something inside of her kept her from doing that as well. For one (and she hated to admit this), she actually kind of liked all the attention Kakashi was giving her. Maybe it was because of all those years of being overlooked, but she liked all the stolen glances and touches and feeling him so close that she could feel the attraction radiating between them.

What Sakura didn't like was all the attention that they were getting from everyone else, not that everyone's reactions were bad. In fact, some people were even supportive. Some of them were glad that Sakura was finally moving on from her unhealthy, unrequited love for Sasuke, and some of them were glad that Kakashi had finally found someone after all these years of bachelorhood. When both groups were put together, it actually came to a surprisingly large group of supporters.

Still, it's human nature to focus on the bad rather than all the good, so Sakura still resisted giving into Kakashi completely because there were still others who saw their relationship as weird and wrong. That's why she was taking it upon herself to end this here and now.

Steeling herself, Sakura finally knocked on Kakashi's door.

"Hi, Sakura. What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked, his one normal eye wide in surprise.

He was dressed in his usual attire when at home, a black tank top with attached mask and gray pants. Since his hitai-ate wasn't on, his hair fell just a little bit over his eyes and he had to keep his Sharingan eye tightly closed. It was a simple, casual outfit and yet it made him look so...

"Can I come in?" Sakura asked quickly. If she got too distracted, she might forget why she had come here in the first place.

"Of course." Kakashi said, waving her in.

Sakura smiled politely at him and then stepped over the threshold of no return.

Once inside, Sakura took a look around. The apartment was rather sparse and clean for a bachelor pad. She had been to Naruto's place before as well and that wasn't the case with his apartment. His place looked like a frat house. Then again, Kakashi was older and more mature. Plus, as team captain he had it in him to keep things orderly.

As Kakashi took a seat at one end of the sofa, Sakura removed her coat, revealing a red dress underneath.

She was comfortable wearing red. She wore it since she was a child and it was still her color of preference. Besides, the short, strapless red dress was similar to the one the girl wore on the cover of Kakashi's _Icha, Icha Paradise_ book. If Sakura's goal was to make him sweat and let him have a taste of his own medicine, then using his greatest weakness against him was the best way to go.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Kakashi asked, his voice trailing off when he saw what Sakura was wearing.

"Well, Kaka-sensei, I've been thinking a lot about us lately."

"Us?" Kakashi gulped as Sakura slowly made her way towards him.

Maybe he was just imagining it, but Kakashi could swear that Sakura was adding an extra sway to her hips with every step she took. What he wasn't imagining, however, was the bouncing of her breasts that seemed ready to spill out of her dress. There was just something about women wearing heeled shoes, like the ones Sakura was wearing now, that seemed to automatically make their breasts more bouncy with every step they took.

"Yes, _us_." Sakura's voice pulled Kakashi out of his reverie. "You've been very persistent lately and I've been trying my best to fight you, the age difference and all, but I really don't feel like fighting anymore, you know what I mean?" Sakura asked, her voice smooth as honey.

She pretty much crawled up his lap and straddled him so that one knee rested on the outside of his thigh while the other rested in the space between his legs. After all, if he was going to be all up in her business, then she was going to be all up in his. If she was feeling especially naughty, she could even gently nudge him, and if he got a bit too touchy-feely, she could knee him...hard.

"So you're okay with it now, us being together?" Kakashi asked in a slightly shaky voice.

Instead of answering him, Sakura smiled serenely and gently combed her fingers through his hair.

Kakashi began to sweat.

"Do you want me to stop?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side and letting the warmth of her breath tickle the shell of his ear.

Kakashi swallowed hard and she could see his cheeks redden just above his maskline.

"No, I like it. Keep going." Kakashi said breathily.

Sakura's eyes widened and she quickly pulled away from him, punching him hard on the arm for good measure.

"OW! That hurt!" Kakashi cried, rubbing his bicep up and down to lessen the pain. It was sure to bruise in the morning and from the fierce look on Sakura's face, he knew that asking her to heal it was out of the question.

"Just be grateful I didn't put chakra behind that punch, you perv!"

"Perv? But you're the one making all the moves on me!"

"And you're supposed to be uncomfortable with that and force me to stop, not encourage me to keep going!"

"But why would I do that if I actually like it?"

Sakura made a face.

"Oh my gosh! You really are a perv!" she shouted, punching him hard on the bicep again.

"OW!" Kakashi cried again. "Couldn't you punch me on the other arm instead?"

Sakura glared at him and punched him again, on the other bicep this time.

"I meant couldn't you- Oh, never mind." Kakashi said, pathetically rubbing both arms in pain. "Sakura, if you didn't come here to seduce me, then why did you come here?"

"I came here to make you uncomfortable and scare you away from chasing after me anymore!"

"Are you sure that's the reason why you came here dressed like that?"

Sakura felt her face heat up.

"Of course! I know that _Icha, Icha_ is your weakness, so I was trying to use it against you!"

"Yes, it's my weakness, but it's also a weakness that I _enjoy_, so I'm going to ask you again: Are you sure that's the reason why you came here dressed like that?"

Sakura looked back at Kakashi taken aback and she could feel herself being overwhelmed with embarrassment.

"You know, if you're interested in me, too, Sakura, it's nothing to be ashamed of. We're both grown adults here."

"I'm not interested in- I didn't come here to- You're so much older than me and you used to be my teacher! We shouldn't be together, Kakashi!" Sakura blurted out.

"Says who?"

"Everyone!"

"Sakura, that's not true and you know it." Kakashi said sternly.

"Okay, not everyone, but there are plenty of other people who don't approve!"

"Do other people's opinions really matter that much to you?"

"Yes!" Sakura said without hesitation. "And don't tell me that they don't matter to you because no matter who you are, everyone cares about what everyone else thinks!"

"True, but you don't stop yourself from living your own life and doing what feels right for you either just because of what other people might think. Sakura, if you spend your entire life trying to please everyone else, then your entire life will be wasted because it can't be done. Haven't you ever heard of the saying 'You can please all of the people only some of the time, and only some of the people all of the time'?"

"Yes."

"So what do you hope to accomplish by continuing to fight what you feel?"

"I don't know what I feel anymore." Sakura admitted, looking helplessly at Kakashi.

"Sakura-"

"Please, don't, Kaka-sensei. I'm really sorry for bothering you, okay? I have to go." she said, quickly covering herself back up with her coat and practically running out of Kakashi's apartment.

Kakashi cringed as Sakura slammed his front door behind her, but rather than feel bad, Kakashi sat on his sofa actually feeling rather good about himself. After all, Sakura had just voluntarily played out one of his _Icha, Icha_ fantasies for him, and it was clear that he was finally wearing her down. It was no longer a battle of trying to get Sakura to feel the same way for him as he did for her. It was more of a battle of getting her to admit those feelings regardless of what anyone else might think, and Kakashi knew that with just a little bit more persuasion that it would be only a matter of time before Sakura was completely his.

To be continued...


	14. On the Bridge

**Chapter 14-On the Bridge**

**

* * *

**

Kakashi squinted. It was late and dark and he was only using his one normal eye. Under such circumstances he was denied of any superhuman abilities like any other civilian, but a gentle summer breeze blew his way and then he was sure of it. Even through the fabric of his mask he knew that scent anywhere, clean and sweet with just a hint of flowers.

Coming out of the forest, he came up from behind her and observed her silhouetted form in the dim moonlight. She stood on the red bridge that was one of their regular meeting spots. Her elbows rested on the railing and her fingers twiddled with something. She stared not at the water sparkling just below, but somewhere far off and beyond. She seemed lost in her own little world and Kakashi knew she only got this way when she was thinking about one particular thing or to be more accurate, one particular _person_.

Kakashi was exhausted. He'd just finished a mission and was ready to just go home and slip into bed, but it's a bad combination to leave a depressed person standing all alone on a bridge, so Kakashi tried to make his presence known even though she had probably already sensed him the second he paused to observe her from several yards away.

She didn't even turn her head when he walked up the bridge and walked around her so that he could observe her with his normal eye.

"What are you doing out here, Sakura? You should be warm and safe in bed." Kakashi said softly, leaning against the bridge's railing the same way she was.

"I don't know why, but I just felt drawn to the bridge tonight," she admitted, although she didn't turn her head to look at him, but continued to stare vacantly out into the distance. "Besides, I should be asking you the same thing."

"Just came back from a mission."

"Ah." Sakura nodded her head slightly in acknowledgment.

"You want to talk?" Kakashi gently pressed.

"I was just thinking...about how stupid I've been."

"How so?"

"All these years I thought that if I looked hard enough, waited long enough, and made myself strong enough that I'd see him again and win him over. How stupid of me."

Kakashi's gaze softened. So that's what was bothering her. "It's not stupid to care for others and hope to see them again. It's called being human and a good friend."

"Then I'm a lousy friend who can't even save her own friend."

"You're being too hard on yourself and blaming yourself for things you have no control over. Trust me, I know because I did the same thing once."

"Really? When?" Sakura asked, finally looking at him out of curiosity.

"A long time ago when I was still young and arrogant and thought I had everything figured out. If I hadn't been so cocky, then my best friend would probably still be alive."

"What happened?"

"It was the first mission I was put in charge of and I was too hasty and made some risky calls, but if I learned anything from that mission it's that putting your friends first isn't stupid, but blaming yourself for things you have no control over is. Everyone is haunted by memories and regrets, but don't let that be something that consumes you because that's actually one of the ways we learn."

"Well then, the only thing I've learned from my memories and regrets is that love makes you stupid."

Kakashi chuckled. "If it's any consolation, love makes everyone stupid, so don't feel too bad. Besides, how would you know that you're in love if you don't feel like a complete idiot first?"

It was Sakura's turn to laugh. "You seem to know an awful lot about love for someone who, as far as I know, has never been in a relationship."

"_Icha, Icha_, one of life's best love manuals." Kakashi said in an advertiser-like voice.

"_Icha, Icha_? You've got to be kidding me!" Sakura said, laughing louder.

"What can I say? Jiraiya knew what he was talking about." Kakashi said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Again, another person who, as far as I know, has never been in a real relationship."

"You don't have to be in a relationship to be in love. You can be completely and utterly in love with someone and have that love unrequited."

Sakura's eyes widened, realizing just what Kakashi was referring to.

"She did love him, you know. She still cries for him sometimes when she thinks no one is around or no one will notice, but I notice." Sakura said quietly.

"She should've told him at least. Maybe it wouldn't hurt so much if she had."

"It hurts just as badly if not more after you tell someone you love them and it makes no difference whatsoever." Sakura said bitterly.

Kakashi looked at her, realizing what she was admitting to.

"You deserve better, Sakura. You deserve to be _treated_ better. If you would just-"

"I don't know that I can." Sakura interrupted, frowning not because she was angry, but because she was trying to fight off tears.

"It's already been ten years."

"I know, but ten years, a lifetime...It's not enough time for me to get over him."

"I'm not asking you to get over him. I don't think anyone ever really gets over their first love, but what I am asking you is to see what's right in front of you, that's all." Kakashi said, reaching out and wiping away tears from her cheek with his thumb.

Sakura was more shocked that she was crying than by his touch.

Then, before she knew what was happening, Kakashi moved forward and gently pressed his masked lips against hers. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise, but to her bigger surprise her first instinct wasn't to hit him, it was to surrender to his kiss.

Sensing her body relax, Kakashi cupped Sakura's face with both hands and kissed her harder, not stopping until both of them were breathless and their lungs burned for air.

For a long time, Kakashi and Sakura stood on the bridge saying nothing, simply trying to catch their breath.

"Is this your way of trying to bribe me?" Sakura finally asked after a few minutes.

"I don't know. Is it working?"

"I haven't punched you into the river yet, so that's a good sign."

"Would I be pushing my luck if I tried to bribe you again?"

Sakura bit her bottom lip, thinking. Something was missing. She couldn't _taste_ him on her lips.

"No, I don't think you would be, but would I be pushing my luck if I-" Sakura reached a hand up to his face.

Instinctively, Kakashi pulled away, but realizing Sakura's intentions, he took her hand into his and brought it back up to the rim of his mask, giving her permission.

Sakura was just about to pull the fabric down when Kakashi grabbed her hand again to stop her.

"You better not be doing this just to take advantage of me." Kakashi said, the look in his eye serious.

"You're the one bribing me, aren't you? How do you expect to win me over if you don't raise the stakes?" Sakura said irritably.

"I just want to make sure you're not doing this to win some kind of bet."

"First of all, you're the one who started chasing after me, remember? And second of all, that bet has been in existence for ten years. You have to be out of your mind to think that I'm not going to cash in on it, but no, that's not the real reason why I'm doing this. Now are you going to let me take your damn mask off or not?"

Sakura barely finished asking her question when bare lips were already pressed against hers, kissing her so hungrily that her instinct was to close her eyes and kiss back, not keep her eyes open and try to see the face of the man kissing her. Besides, trying to see someone that close up would only make her cross eyed and how good of a view could she possible get of him is she was cross eyed? It was enough just to feel actual lips and tongue, wetness and warmth, and not a barrier of cloth against her mouth.

Again, Kakashi didn't stop until both their lungs protested from lack of air.

Afterwards, he held her close, his hands wrapped around the back of her neck, and hers wrapped around the back of his.

They both kept their eyes closed, foreheads pressed against each other as they tried to catch their breath once again.

"You're not going to let me see you, are you?" Sakura asked after a while.

"That's up to you. Do you want to make your decision based on who I am or simply how I look?"

"You must think very highly of yourself and not think very much of me to think that I'd choose you just because I got a glimpse of your face and not because of everything else."

"Everything else?"

"You just want to hear me say good things about you." Sakura smirked, eyes still closed.

"I just want to hear what you've noticed because I'm not sure about what you have or haven't noticed."

"Narcissist."

"Besides, if you say it out loud, you might just bribe yourself."

Sakura laughed. "So you don't really talk people into doing something, you just have them talk themselves into doing it."

"Pretty much."

"You're a piece of work. You do know that, don't you?"

"As long as you know what you're getting yourself into ahead of time. Now you were saying?..."

Sakura laughed again. "Well, let's start with all those times you saved my life. Otherwise, we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

"And I'd be a lonely, lonely man."

"Yes, you would be. And then there's all those times you comforted me."

"I'd have to have been cold and heartless not to do that after all that you've been through."

"You could've just not cared."

"That's not in my nature."

"I know." Sakura said, a hint of a smile in her voice.

"Open your eyes." Kakashi said, gently pulling his forehead away from Sakura's.

"But I haven't even finished stroking your ego yet."

"You don't have to. You've said enough already, now open your eyes."

As Sakura did, she saw, thanks to Kakashi's face turned towards the moonlight, a clean shaved face, a straight nose, and a scar running halfway down a left cheek. All and all it was a perfectly proportional, perfectly symmetrical face except for the scar on the left side.

"Well? You've waited ten years to see it, what do you think?"

"You look young." Sakura said, saying the first thing that came to her mind. "I thought you'd look older, more...wrinkly."

"I'm 36, Sakura, not 63."

"Yeah, but some people in their 30's are already wrinkly. You're not, not even a little bit. In fact, you look my age. Why is that?"

"The mask helps. It protects me from the sun, and I don't smoke like Asuma used to and I don't drink like Tsunade-sama. Good genes help, too."

"No kidding! If I didn't know any better, I'd say your DNA holds the secret to eternal youth!"

"Oh, don't say that." Kakashi said in wide eyed concern. "Gai gives me a hard enough time as it is. If he finds out, who knows what crazy stunts he'll make me do next!"

Sakura laughed. "300 laps around the village will do you good!"

"Says you. I just let him have a head start, hide up in a tree and read my book, and poof myself to the finish line when he's on his last lap. He never could understand why I always won without a sweat."

"You cheater!"

"It's not cheating if you never agree to the competition in the first place." Kakashi reasoned. "So that's it? I just look young?" he asked when Sakura seemed unable to come up with a comeback to his obvious cheating.

"I never knew you were such a narcissist, Kaka-sensei."

"I'm not, but you're also the first person who's seen my face in I can't even remember how long. I just want some feedback."

"I still think you're a narcissist, but a handsome one." Sakura said blushing.

"You think I'm handsome?" Kakashi asked, smirking.

For the first time since she knew him, Sakura actually saw what Kakashi looked like when he smirked. It only added to his handsome, boy-ish looks.

Sakura rolled her eyes with a coy smile on her face. "Yes, I do."

"Does this mean I've finally won you over or do you still need a little more persuasion?"

"I think just one more bribe will do it." Sakura said, unable to stop from smiling.

To Sakura's relief, Kakashi smiled back with a set of straight, healthy, white teeth and not the buckteeth Team 7 had once speculated about.

Then, Kakashi pulled Sakura towards him again and kissed her for a third time, sealing the deal. Third time was the charm, after all.

They smiled at each other when they finally pulled apart, no more barriers between them, physical or otherwise, knowing full well what both of them were getting themselves into.

"So are you okay now?" Kakashi asked, gently caressing her upturned face.

"Of course. You always did know what to say to me."

"That's what I'm here for," he said, flashing another smile, one that would turn most girls into mush and Sakura was no exception.

"Thanks, Kaka-sensei." Sakura smiled up at him, but there was something else in her eyes.

Kakashi knew the way he felt about her and he now knew for sure the way she felt about him, but that look…He didn't quite know what it was.

"You're welcome. Want me to walk you home?"

"No. I want to stay out here for just a little bit longer, but thank you."

"You sure you'll be all right?"

"Yes. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." he said, kissing her quickly one last time on the lips before pulling his mask back up and waving goodbye to her with a happy eye crease.

Sakura waved back at him and watched him until she could no longer see him through the darkness.

She stood quietly on the bridge for a while listening to the chirping of the crickets and the rushing of the river below her.

She had once believed that if Sasuke ever came back and changed his mind about her (which at this point Sakura knew would never happen, but she still liked to entertain the thought) she was sure that she would drop whoever else she was with at that moment in a heartbeat.

...Or at least the younger, more naive Sakura would have.

The older, more mature Sakura had a greater sense of self worth nowadays, and she knew that it was better to be with someone who could see that worth within her than to be constantly chasing after someone who wouldn't even reward her with a glance.

Sakura looked down at the dead, brown, but otherwise perfectly intact, beautiful leaf that she was twirling between her fingers earlier. It wouldn't come back to life like the fish Tsunade had her practice her healing chakra on years ago. This leaf had died a long time ago and holding onto it for any longer would do neither her or it any good. It was just another thing to let go.

With that, Sakura released the leaf, watching it catch and dance in the wind before finally falling into the rushing river below. She watched it flow downstream until she couldn't see it anymore before raising her head up high and disappearing into the darkness following in Kakashi's wake, determined to look forward and never look back.

To be continued…


	15. Tricked

**Chapter 15-Tricked**

* * *

Kakashi put one hand against the wall behind her head while his other hand gently tucked a lock of pale pink hair behind her ear.

Sakura blushed, feeling warm at his close proximity, but continued on with her soft spoken conversation with him as if nothing had happened. There was something in her eyes, however, when she ventured to look up and meet his one exposed one. It was partly coy, partly flirtatious. She was egging him on and Kakashi was more than willing to oblige.

He leaned in closer, so close that their faces were a mere few inches apart.

Sakura kept softly talking to him, but she tilted her head up, anticipating.

Kakashi kept leaning in closer, a hazy, dark look in his half hooded eye. Just a couple of inches more and they were about to-

"What are you two doing?" an authoritative, feminine voice cut through the air like a kunai. The sound of it was so shocking that Kakashi immediately pulled away from Sakura.

"Shishou!" Sakura said in embarrassment. "We were just talking!" she said quickly, but it only added more to her guilt.

"Maybe you were, but _he_ was doing something else and I don't like it. Hatake, in my office NOW!"

Kakashi and Sakura both looked at Tsunade in wide eyed fear. There was no reasoning with her when she got like this.

"It was nice knowing you." Kakashi murmured to Sakura before miserably dragging himself into the Hokage's office.

As Kakashi gently closed the door behind him, he made a mental note to himself that it's not such a great idea to make moves on the Hokage's apprentice right outside the Hokage's office.

When he chanced a look at Tsunade, he could tell that she was trying everything in her power not to rip his limbs off one by one right then and there. He also had enough experience to know better than to speak first when she was in a temper.

After the redness in Tsunade's face had cooled down to a tolerable pink, she took a deep breath and finally spoke.

Kakashi was just fortunate that Shizune and Sakura had (with the full-hearted support of the Elders) talked her into anger management classes. Otherwise, he'd already be peeling himself off from the village street far down below and picking off shards of broken office window glass from his person.

"I've been hearing talk for a while now and now I've finally seen it for myself, so the only thing I want to ask is: What are your intentions with my apprentice, Hatake? I'm warning you, think _very_ carefully about your answer." Tsunade said through clenched teeth.

"I assure you, Tsunada-sama, that my intentions with Sakura are only good ones."

"Not from what I saw just a few minutes ago."

"Ahahaha!" Kakashi laughed as he scratched the back of his neck nervously.

Tsunade glared at him.

Maybe that wasn't such a smart move. Kakashi immediately sobered back up.

"If you're afraid that I'm taking advantage of Sakura or that I might hurt her, I promise you that's not my intention at all. I only want the best for her and to make her happy. As it is, I've only continued to pursue her with her permission."

"Really? And how exactly, may I ask, has she 'given you permission'?" Tsunade asked skeptically.

"Actually, that's something I wanted to talk to you about. You may want to sit down for this, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade's eyes widened, but she took Kakashi's advice and sat down in her chair.

"I'm listening."

* * *

Again, Sakura found herself dressed in a white flowing dress that billowed around her ankles. And again, she stood in front of Kakashi, prepared for a kiss.

Only this time it wasn't a genjutsu. This time it was for real, and this time the kiss meant something much greater. It meant that they would stay together through sickness and in health, for better or for worse, 'til death do they part.

For all her bark, Tsunade was a softy when it came to her apprentice.

Tsunade wiped at her eyes as she watched someone she considered to be her adopted daughter kiss the man who was now her husband.

Tsunade was relieved that Kakashi asked her to sit down so that he could ask her permission to marry Sakura and for her to be the wedding official. For a moment she had thought that he was going to tell her that he accidentally got Sakura pregnant. He'd really be dead then.

At least now Sakura could have the life that Tsunade herself couldn't have with Dan or Jiraiya. She had to admit that Kakashi wasn't the first person who came to her mind for the job, but she could see in Sakura's eyes how happy he made her and that's all that mattered and all that she cared about.

Apparently, however, what everyone else in the audience cared about was finally seeing Kakashi's bare face. Unfortunately for them, a well placed bridal bouquet prevented that, but Tsunade, who was standing on the other side of Kakashi and Sakura, saw everything.

Kakashi, that brat. No wonder Sakura couldn't resist.

* * *

"It's only fitting to go back to where this all began." Sakura reasoned.

Not one to argue with his then bride-to-be, Kakashi agreed and the wedding reception was booked at the restaurant where they had their first date and first dance, The Enkei. It actually turned out to be the perfect venue with its sweeping views of the village and it even had its very own ballroom.

As the party progressed, high liquor consumption made for loose lips and once again the rest of the Konoha 11 found themselves gathered together all at the same time at one place, which was a rare occasion. Considering this particular occasion and considering the couple of the day, conversations inevitably mimicked the ones from the last time that they all managed to be together.

"Kaka-sensei and Sakura-chan. Who knew?" Ino said, flailing her arms out so that her champagne glass sploshed a little bit of the liquid out.

"I had a feeling, the way he was always so protective of her, but I had no idea what it meant." Naruto admitted.

"I knew what it meant, but I didn't think it was serious. I didn't think they'd be dating for almost a year or make it to this point." Yamato joined in.

"I did."

Everyone turned around to gape at Sai.

"What?" Sai asked, his face still blank. "He's Copy Nin Sharingan Kakashi and she's the Hokage's apprentice. If anyone had a good chance of surviving, it was them."

"Why do I have a feeling of deja vu?" Naruto asked. "I could've sworn that you said that before. Oh, well." he said with a shrug as he grabbed Hinata by the hand, pulled her out onto the dance floor, and started doing some funky dancing much to Hinata's embarrassment.

* * *

With the cake cut, the bouquet thrown (Hinata caught it), and the garter thrown (Naruto caught it - Both Naruto and Hinata practically fainted at the implications), the party started winding down, and Sakura was dancing one of the last few dances with Naruto.

"She looks beautiful. You're a lucky man, Kakashi." a gruff voice observed.

"Down, boy."

"Are you talking to me or yourself?" Pakkun asked, confused.

"Both." Kakashi smiled down at the old pug with a happy eye crease before walking onto the ballroom and cutting in to have one last dance of the night with his new wife.

When the song ended, Kakashi picked Sakura up in his arms bridal style and left the room for their honeymoon.

"I think you were talking more to yourself." Pakkun mused with a smile.

Knowing Kakashi and his predilection for _Icha, Icha_, it would only be a matter of time before there would be little Hatake pups on the way.

* * *

In one of Sakura's old scrapbooks, there is a pressed, dried yellow rose. It was the same rose that Kakashi had given her on their first date all those years ago. Unlike the dead, brown leaf that she had released on the red bridge one moonlit night, Sakura has no intention of getting rid of the rose in spite of the fact that it, too, lost its life a long time ago.

She keeps the rose as a reminder, a reminder that you can plan life all you want, but it doesn't necessarily mean that things are going to go the way you expect them to. And if by some miracle everything does go exactly the way you had planned it, it doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be happy, and that sometimes the path you never imagined for yourself can actually be better than anything you could ever have dreamed of yourself.

* * *

To this day, Sakura still insists to her children that their father had tricked her into falling in love with him, and Kakashi still insists that you can't make anyone fall in love with you no matter how hard you try. He says that he saw their mother falling for him anyway, so he just gave her a little extra boost is all. What irritates Sakura most about this isn't the fact that her husband is right, but that she has two cheeky children to smile back at her with their father's trademark happy eye crease.

Sakura sighed in defeat. She just can't win.

The End

* * *

THANK YOU so much to everyone who took the time to read, review, alert, and fave this story! We fanfic writers don't get paid for all the time and effort we put into writing these stories, so it really is just our love of writing, the characters, and your encouragement and support that keeps us motivated and keeps us going, so again, thank you! I had a great time writing this story, but you guys truly made it an enjoyable experience for me!

And of course, a special thanks to the girl with a gazillion different pen names: **cheyenne/suicidal-uchiha/insomniac's-nightmare/masochisticmarmalade** for giving me the story idea in the first place. If it wasn't for her, there would be no story! I probably would've just surrendered to my writer's block, so if you guys have any more story ideas that you don't mind sharing, let me know. I may just take you up on your suggestion. ;P Anyways, here was Suicidal-Uchiha's original prompt for those of you who were wondering:

I've seen a lot where Sakura tries to seduce Kakashi, but what about one where Kakashi tries to seduce her?

'Til then, spread love not hate by continuing to read fanfics, supporting the writers, and supporting KakaSaku! Long live KakaSaku! :P

~Tricia

* * *

**Update Aug. 13, 2010:** I made a drawing for this last chapter on deviantART. Here's the link. As always, remember to remove the space after the periods because FF doesn't allow links:

shippertrish. deviantart. com/art/KakaSaku-Happy-Eye-Creases-175250694


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